Purity
by A Dangerous Notion
Summary: Kagome doesn't want to join another war. All she wants is peace. But since when has the Black Order taken, "No," for answer.
1. Book I: Introduction

Purity

Disclaimer: Doesn't "Fanfiction" already imply "not mine"?

First book: Introduction

"Allen," Komui poked his head out of his doorway to call out to the young English man walking pass his door. "Can I see you in my office for a moment? There is a mission for you." Komui gave a quick glace to Allen's ever vigilant shadow before throwing out a wide smile and pulling back into his office.

Allen turns his head to look back when he heard his name and stopped fast in seeing Komui's smiling face. "Sure thing" Allen smiled as he follows his slightly mad leader into his office, not even bothering to look back at Link.

Walking though the doorway, Allen's eyes were quick to notice the predictable mess and normal state of Komui's office, what wasn't normal, however, was the presence of Kanda Yuu sitting in the couch in front of the dark wooden desk. Of course the look on Kanda's face when he also spotted Allen was his typical scowl.

"Kanda? What are you doing here?" Allen asked the sullen man. He made his way around the back of the couch to sit on the far side as Kanda had, quite comfortably, claimed the side closest to the door. Link choose to stay and stand by the closed door, his ever faithful notebook in hand.

Komui chose to answer Allen's question from his position beside his desk. His right hip was thrown out to rest against the wooden leg to maintain balance. "You are both going on this mission," he stressed the word 'both' to the irritated young boys. He was unable to keep a silly grin off his face at the similar expressions those two wore and couldn't stop the cheeky comment forcing its way out. "So play nice with each other." Komui waved his finger.

"Che," A snort was heard to Allen's left. He didn't care to turn and look at the Japanese boy.

Komui clapped his hands, "Ok now, there have been recent reports of a young woman traveling from town to town possessing strange healing powers which she has been using to help the local populous. It has been witnessed that her abilities have healed what should have been mortal wounds almost instantly and with no additional scaring."

Komui straightened up and reached for a couple folders buried under a mound of papers. He pulled them free with absolutely no care about the now toppled papers sliding across his floor, joining the already copious piles scattered there. He turned and handed the folders to the two men, Allen gave a polite thank you. "We had sent finders out to check the credibility of the sighting..." He trailed off and gave a shrug. "But they seemed to have gotten lost it the surrounding woods somehow, so we are sending the two of you out."

He walked behind his desk and knocked even more papers off his chair and onto the floor before taking his seat. He clasped his hands together and continued. "We believe that she may be an accommodator for innocence. Therefore your mission is to retrieve her and bring her back to headquarters. You will be leaving tonight, in four hours by the waterway."

Kanda stood up as soon as Komui was finished and walked to the door. Allen was a little slower to stand, giving Komui a polite smile and nod.

"Oh, one last thing." Komui looked back up.

Kanda and Allen stopped and turn back towards Komui, Kanda's hand resting on the door handle.

"The healers name is Kagome. I don't believe it is mentioned in the mission statement."

Kanda gave one last, "che," and flung the door opened, perhaps a bit harder than necessary and strode out. Kanda turned right and walked toward the training rooms located on the other side of the campus. Allen, following more calmly behind, turned left towards the cafeteria. If he was going on a mission, he had to fill up on Jerry's cooking, right?

~ OoOo ~

Kagome finished packing away her tools and turned to the young couple waiting nervously for her results. She smiled, "Well, everything looks like it is going smoothly, my guess that in less than a week you two will be the proud parents of one happy, healthy little baby."

The woman was sitting up on a bed brought a hand to her mouth and tried to suppress her tears, her husband, a young farm hand hovering by her side swiftly grabbed the mentioned hand, a proud smile on his face, tears shining his eyes.

"Thank you so much Lady Kagome." He said when the future mother became unable to, so completely overwhelmed. The couple had been having problems having children. Their last attempt had resulted in a devastating still born early last spring.

"We are so grateful you could look at my child." The women regained her ability to talk. "You will be here to help with the birth right? In case something goes wrong?" The women asked. Her eyes wide searching for the promise she so hoped would be there.

"Oh course, I will!" Kagome nodded, much to the visible relief of the couple. With a smile still on her face and a pat to the shoulder of the young father, Kagome closed her bags and headed out the door, leaving the happy couple to themselves.

"Lady Kagome!"

Kagome looked up in surprised and looked for the caller. The dark head of Tommy Foster weaved his way to her side.

"Hello Tommy." Kagome reached to ruffle the young head, but he ducked out from under her hand and backed up a few paces. Kagome's cheerful smile faded at the look on Tommy's face. The child reached for her hand and started to pull her down the hill.

"A rider from East town just rode in." He turned wide eyes to Kagome, and tugged a bit harder, a bit faster. "He said that there was a mudslide over a road and people got badly hurt." Big expressive eyes innocently begging her to help those people he had never met.

Kagome picked up speed and now it was Tommy trying to play keep up.

"I have to stop at my hotel room for my things first. Tell your father I'll be down to the stables as soon as I can." Her mind was already going over all that she would have to bring.

Tommy ran back to his father to rely the message and Kagome mentally patting herself on the back for always keeping an emergency bag packed for events just like this one.

~ OoOo ~

It had taken eight long, hard years to finally defeat Naraku. In the end only she remained. Koga and the rest of his pack had been the first to fall. The overwhelming mass of demons that had attacked the pack in their own dens late at night had just been too much for them to handle. The more inexperienced fighters dragging downs those that could, resulting in a complete slaughter of the eastern wolf pack. By the time Inuyasha and the rest had heard, it had been far too late.

Sango and Kirara were the next ones fall. Sango, assassinated by her own brother on the night of the new moon, Kirara unable to help or alert the rest of the group thanks to the merciless attack by a Naraku puppet. Miroku fell a month later, the heartbreak of losing Sango being too much for the strong man to handle. He gave it his all, even his very life in a fight soon after, taking far too many Saimyosho then his body was able to handle. Their ashes now lay beneath the God tree, laid side by side.

The final battle would happen only one year later. Her allies all came, including a remorseful Kikyo and a stoic Sesshomaru, ready to get his revenge over the sneak attack that burnt tiny, carefree Rin and his loyal retainer into unrecognizable and unrisible forms of blackened flesh.

They were losing.

Three hours in and the sides could not be anymore one-sided. All that remained of the good guys were a heavily wounded and bleeding West Lord who had lost most of his left leg and almost all of his sight. The stubborn Inuyasha who's only reason he hadn't succumbed to the gaping hole in his chest was sure fire will power. A wide eyed Kikyo, down to her last few arrows and backed up against the canyon wall and a panicked Kagome who's bow laid broken behind her and a dying Shippo held tight in her grasp.

Confidence turned to arrogance and Naraku made a fatal mistake giving Kagome the miracle she desperately needed.

Waiting until the moment Kikyo fired her last arrow, Naraku knocked both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru back in a show of power and sent a barbed tentacle right though the upper chest of the undead women, right where the heart would have been. This move, this kill, had major unforeseen consequences.

With the clay shell body broken the collected souls that gave Kikyo her energy were released in a spectacular light show ending in a final bang of pink light. That light lit the sky as it raced passed the weaker demons of Naraku's army, disintegrating them as it passed and slammed into the chest of one Kagome Higurashi.

The resulting pulse of power as the two half souls connected for the first time in years blasted the rest of the enemy demons to pieces including the wind witch Kagura and void demon Kanna and more importantly tore Naraku's barrier into infinitesimal shards leaving a large enough gap to allow the two brothers one last charge.

And charge they did, giving everything they had left. Inuyasha was able to wedge his sword under the mass of tentacles and deep into the sternum of the monster, ripping it out he was able to take with him the completed Shikon Jewel leaving Naraku mortal and open for the jarring blow delivered by Sesshomaru straight through and deep into the black heart of Naraku.

A costly victory as all three would fall to the ground dead, leaving heartbroken Kagome to reclaim the jewel alone. All remaining demons fled with the deaths.

Shaking, both in grief and in fatigue, Kagome used her last bit of strength and energy gained from reconnecting with the last half of her soul to purify the remains of the two brothers, collecting their weapons in an act of honour and finally purifying the completed Shikon Jewel.

Kagome Higurashi collapsed on that hillside in a puddle of demon remains, and thick warm blood. Clutching the jewel tight to her breast, Kagome would fall unconscious in the feudal era and wake up in another world.

A subconscious wish for freedom, for all that had just happened to just, "go away," would result in another upheaval in the short life of the young women.

The well had been sealed years ago, when Naraku found out that she was from the future. Some quick work from Kaede saved the future from Naraku infiltrating it but his retaliation ended her long life.

There was nothing for her there, no past, no future.

That was over 300 years ago.

~ OoOo ~

"I'm here." Kagome called out as she skidded to a stop just in the gates.

Tommy's father, Rick ran over and reached for Kagome's bags. He then threw them over to the younger stable boy who loaded the bags to the saddle of the horse. Kagome stepped up to the black mare and accepted the hand of the rider. She pulled herself onto the magnificent beast and they were off.

Kagome took one last glance at the village behind her before they turned the corner of the forest road at a run. It had been over 300 years since the jewel brought her here, to this new world where her demons don't exist, both literally and figuratively, and there was not true use for those with her powers. It had taking her a long time but had been was able to move on and create a new life for herself.

~ OoOo ~

AN.

This has not been edited by a beta, (as I don't have one) so please, if there are any mistakes point them out for me. Thank-you

Next time on Purity,

Second Book: The Healer


	2. Book II: The Healer

Purity,

Disclaimer:

Second Book: The Healer

Kanda was not happy. Not that he usually was, but today he found himself angrier than usual. He had been assigned to find some damn women. A mission he could have done on his own but Konuli had decided he had to take the Bean Sprout with him. Of course that meant that Bean Sprout's little stuck-up watcher would also have to come along making the trip even more enjoyable. Notice the sarcasm.

To top it off the stupid, useless finders that were sent originally to find the women had gotten lost somehow so the whereabouts of the women was unknown. This was the forth village they had stopped at, with no luck in finding her and they were unable to move on as the roads were blocked by mudslides. They couldn't travel through the woods as they hadn't brought the equipment necessary.

'Not that I need equipment to live in the woods,' Kanda sneered.

Questioning the villagers provided no lead either. It was quite strange. Everyone knew of the women, but no one would give them a name or description of her. Most people claimed it was just a myth, just a young woman that knew her herbs and was willing to help. He would have believed them to if it were not for the fact that the children had many things to say about the beautiful, 'angel,' that would come to town and heal everyone. They said that you could see the wound heal right before your eyes.

'It's as though they are trying to hide her existence from outsiders,' Kanda pondered as he made his way to the center of town. He was to meet Bean Sprout and Link there to go over the information they had collected.

"She's here!" A loud shout rang up from the crowd.

Kanda turned to look. It was a young boy, no more then seven. He came running from the hills to the center of the village.

"She's here, the healer, she came! She is heading to the mayor's house right now!"

Kanda turn and caught Allen's eye, then just as quickly, they pushed through the villagers also moving to the mayor's house. Finally they would get some answers.

~ OoOo ~

As soon as the horse stopped at the front door of the house, Kagome jumped off, startling the lad who had come to help her off the horse, and hurried into the house. She was greeted by the round figure of the town mayor just inside the front hall. A quick nod was all she gave before asking to see the injured.

The town had no hospital, so all of the injured had been welcomed into the home of the mayor for the time being. The families of the more critical ones were also given permission to stay there. They were all located in the west wing.

Kagome entered the first room she came to. There was a little girl sitting up on the bed, her left arm was badly burnt. Second and third degree burns ran up and down it, puss oozed from the larger infections. The smell was horrible. The poor girl shyed away in tears. But Kagome ignored it all and just smiled as she entered. She slowly sat beside the girl in the bed and spoke in a calm voice as one would call to a scared kitten.

"Hello, dear" Kagome smiled. The child bravely smiled back.

Kagome turned to the mayor. "Can you bring my bags up here? I'm going to need some of my herbs." She turned back to the girl. "My name is Kagome, do you remember me, Lena? I was here for your uncles wedding last spring..."

~ OoOo ~

Allen ran to the largest house in the town. Kanda raced right behind him, Link a little farther back. He arrived just in time to see a young women jump from a horse and run into the house.

"Excuse me? Where is the healer?" Allen asked a mud covered man standing beside him.

"Sorry, if you want to see the healer you going to have to wait, there are injured people in that house that need her attention before you." The man scoffed at Allen. "Young people these days believe the world revolves around them."

"No, no, that's not what I meant." Stammered Allen but the man had already turned away.

"We are exorcists of the Black Order." Link had caught up with Allen and Kanda. "We have come a long way to speak to this healer. Surly she can talk with us and treat the injured at the same time." Link said, looking down his nose, a feat since the man was easily over six feet tall.

"The Black Order? Well if it's from the Order it must be more important than the wounds of some children. Would you have us empty the house so you won't be disturbed?" The man glared at Link and stormed away. Leaving Link sputtering in his wake.

"Oh, don't you mind him. He's just tired from cleaning up the roads." A large women seemingly pounced on Allen. "I'm not surprised you want to see her. She is such an amazing soul. Helping everyone out and never asking for anything in return. If you want to see her I would go talk to the mayor. She'll most likely be staying in his house."

"Thank you, Madam." Allen smiled and bowed to her.

"Oh, so polite, tell me would you like to come over to my house after you had your meeting? I have a daughter your age whom I'm sure would love to meet you?" The lady said fluttering her eyelashes.

"Ummm," Allen stammered looking very uncomfortable, much to Kanda's entertainment.

Luckily for Allen, the mayor had just exited the house and was talking to the rider as he removed the saddle bags from the horse. The three boys hurried through the crowd.

"Excuse me? We are with the Black Order and we would like to request an audience with the healer." Link told the mayor. "As soon as she is able to, of course." He added remembering the last reaction he gotten.

The mayor was a stout man with a thick bushy moustache. A little over weight and very well dressed but with the laugh lines around mouth and eyes you could tell this was a kind and generous man. He turned to the three of them and looked them up and down, a cautious expression on his face.

"You are the exorcists that have been staying at the inn?" he asked and then continued without waiting for an answer. "Do you know how to heal?"

"Yes, we have some training." Allen nods

"Good, follow me." The man passed the saddle bags to Kanda and Link and motioned for them to follow him. "If you want to talk to her right away, I ask that you do so while helping in any way that you can. This town is very small. We don't have many people who can help. It truly was a blessing lady Kagome was only in the next town over."

'The healers name is Kagome? That's the same name Komuli told us.' Allen thought as he hurried behind the mayor.

"All of the injured are in the west wing." The mayor told them as they climbed the stairs. "Most of the wounds are broken bones and cuts from the rocks. However one carriage caught on fire somehow. There were four children caught in the flames. All survived but have terrible burns on their hands and faces. Lady Kagome is with the youngest now."

The mayor came to a stop outside one of the rooms and opened the door. "Lady Kagome, I have your bags and I`ve brought some help."

~ OoOo ~

Kagome turned from the child she was talking to, to look at the door way. There, she saw that the mayor had returned with three other males, two of which were holding her bags.

"Wonderful, can you pass me the jar with the orange lid." Kagome nods at Kanda. "It should be in the right pocket of that bag." She then turns to Allen. "Can you could refill this bowl with warm water and find me a fresh towel?" Allen nods and takes the bowl from her hands. He followed the mayor outside the room who pointed to the nearest washroom. "Thank you." Kagome called.

Allen soon returned and Kagome dipped the towel in the water and started to wash the child's burns. Cooing soft words when she would wince in pain. When she was finished she took the jar from Kanda and started to apply the paste to the girls arm. While doing this Kagome finally took notice of her guests.

"Hello, my name is Kagome. You must be new to the town as I don't recall seeing you before." Kagome smiled at the three men before her.

Allen stood up and bowed. "Hello lady Kagome, my name is Allen Walker, this is Howard Link and the guy in the corner is Yuu Kanda. We are members of the Black Order."

"Well, welcome to this humble town. It is rare that there are visitors of your calibre in these parts" Kagome said finishing applying the paste and started to wrap the burns in bandages.

"How is that dear? Does it still hurt?" She asked the little girl.

"No" The child shook her head. "Kagome? Will you come back and tell me a story before bed?" Her small hand grabbed the hem of Kagome's shirt.

"That's sounds like a great idea, how about we get all the children in the house to come to the study and I will tell you all a story tonight. How does that sound?" Kagome asked, taking her small hand within her own.

"Ya!" exclaimed the child as she bounced on the bed.

Kagome laughed and stood up to leave the room. Link opened the door for her and they all left. The rest of the day was carried out in much the same way. Kagome would do her best to heal the injured with her herbs as Allen, Kanda and Link helped.

They had just finished when dinner was announced. They sat at the table in the formal dining hall. It was just the four of them. The rest of the house was busy delivering dinner to the ones still unable to move from their beds. Allen was the first to break the silence.

"Lady Kagome," he started.

"No please, just call me Kagome. None of this lady stuff." Kagome Interrupted him, waving a hand in the air. "I've been trying to make the people in this town stop calling me that for years."

"Ok, then Miss. Kagome, you can call me Allen." Replied Allen.

"I will Mr. Walker if you also drop the Miss. part, just call me Kagome." She smiled.

"Kagome then, do you live in the village?"

"No I don't." Kagome said as she placed her napkin on her lap to make room for her meal. The servers placed a plate of chicken and wild rice in front of her. It smelt wonderful after a full day of healing. She hadn't had time for lunch today. "I travel from place to place helping anyone who needs it." Kagome took a small bite of the chicken. "This is very good." Kagome tells the server.

"About your healing methods, I noticed you don't use any conventional medicines, everything you used was herb based." Link spoke up, before trying the meal himself.

"That's true. I believe that everything we need god made on mother earth. I was trained to use herbal remedies and they have worked miracles for me." Kagome hide her smile behind a glass of wine. Worked miracles indeed.

"So you only use herbs to heal, no magic, no powers from god?" Kanda spoke.

"Powers from god?" Kagome asked keeping her voice confused. She hoped they wouldn't ask anymore question, she didn't need the church poking around in her business.

"I'm sorry, Kagome but we must confess. We weren't just passing through this town and stopped to help. We were in fact looking for you." Allen said, already finished his meal and moving on to a second helping.

"Looking for me?" Kagome asked slowly.

"Yes part of your job is to research paranormal activity and the Order had heard of your healing ability. However it would seem that the story has gotten out of hand and we believed you possessed a magical ability that allowed you to heal. That is the reason we are here." Allen explained.

"Perhaps the story was meant to get out of hand. Our god does work in mysterious ways. All of your help today was greatly appreciated." Kagome said smiling in relief.

The dinner continued in light convocation, mostly between Allen and Kagome about her life as a traveling healer. Kanda also surprising spoke up once to ask her about her nationality.

"I'm Japanese, but I haven't been home in many years. Strange thing were happening there so I left as soon as I could." Kanda nodded. He has thought it was strange to see another person from Japan. Japan had been overrun by the Earl and akuma for years, but if she had gotten out when she was very young it would make more sense.

When dinner was over, the mayor offered them rooms in the manor but they had rooms already at the inn. They left the house with plans on leaving for the Order in the morning. The men of the village had managed to clear a path on the road that day. As they left, the mayor walked to stand beside Kagome.

"So that's the reason you didn't use your powers to heal anyone today and instead used only your herbs. What would happen if they did find out about your power?" The mayor asked as he watched the three men walk away.

"Mayor, you were eavesdropping, shame on you," Kagome smiled then let it fall. "If they did find out then I would also be leaving with them tomorrow, forced to join the Black Order." There was a long silence as they both watched the sun start to set.

"The town's people will continue to keep quiet about your powers, just as you have asked, but I fear the children have no such restraint." The mayor said as he turned back into the house.

Kagome turned to go in as well, entering as the mayor held the door for her. "That's fine, children will always be telling stories and as long as the exorcists believe them to be just stories I will be fine." Kagome smiled and clapped her hands "That said, I have an appointment with some children in your study, it would seem they want a bedtime story." Kagome's smile grew. "And from that look in your eye, I assume you will be joining us as well?"

The mayor just smiled and held out his arm for her to take as they walked up the stairs to the west wing. "Well, you do tell the best stories." The mayor's voice was heard as they rounded the corner. Kagome's laughter soon followed.

~ OoOo ~

AN.

This has not been edited by a beta, so please, if there are any mistakes point them out for me. Thank-you

Next time on Purity,

Third Book: Story Interrupted


	3. Book III: Story Interrupted

Purity,

Disclaimer:

Third Book: Story Interrupted

Allen couldn't take it anymore. Kanda was acting more insufferable than normal. Yes, the trip had been a waste of time, yes, there was no innocence to collect but Allen had enjoyed the break from all the fighting. Kagome had also been very interesting to talk to. He made is way outside the hotel room and sat in the restaurant area below. He wasn't allowed any farther without Link being present.

The place calmed Allen down. The town had been prospering in the last few years. New houses were being built and there were new people coming to town looking for work. It was a peaceful little village where couples could have a family. Allen grinned. There was one such family seated across from him, a mother, a father and two twin boys around the age of five. The boys seem more interested in how the other looked with noodles for hair then eating their food. Much to the poor mother's dismay.

"Were you able to find what triggered the mudslide?" Three men had just entered through the door. The youngest of the three was the one how has posed the question. He was about Kanda's age and height only he wore his black hair cut short. A poor attempt of a beard was on his chin and a homemade jumper kept him warm.

"Not exactly, it's quite odd. There was no forewarning that a slide was going to occur and the location, well, we've never had a slide there before." The eldest answered. For his apparent age he was quite fit. He had large arms and legs on a thick, solid body, complemented by a full gray beard and moustache. Through defiantly a hairy follow he sported a shiny bald head.

"Strange," the youngest said.

"That's not the strangest thing." The last man stated as he flung himself on to the bar stool. The bar maid filled three glasses with beer and handed them to the three men. They were undoubtedly regulars. The man's slicked backed hair and expensive jacket looked out of placed next to the other men. "There were signs of blast marks covering the entire side of the hill."

"You mean someone purposely made that land slide." The teen yelled. Standing up so fast he knocked over his bar stool. By this time the whole building had stopped eating to listen to the conversation. Even the noodle covered boys. Noticing the stares the boy blushed and bent to straighten his seat.

"Is it true George?" The bar maid asked the old man, "What Jack said, did someone set off that landslide?"

"Can't say for certain. The blast marks were not big enough to be dynamite. I have no idea what had caused them." George scratched the back of his bald head.

"I still say they looked like cannon shots." The slicked man set his empty glass down, and motioned for a refill.

"And where would a person around here get a cannon?" questioned the old man, throwing his hands up in the air. His exasperated voice sounded like this was a topic of conversation he didn't want to get back onto.

"I was just saying." The man spun on his stool towards George.

The conversation then turned to other topics and the restaurant went back to normal. Allen however couldn't get the idea of cannon blasts from his head. Like George had said, a cannon around here would be unlikely but...

'Could the blast marks be from akuma bullets?' Allen pondered.

As if on cue Allen's left eye activated. A large group of akuma were approaching the town from the hill of the west side. Allen raced outside for a better view. From what he was able to see, there were four level threes among the group while the rest were just level ones. Not too hard for the exorcists, but capable of causing tons of damage to the surrounding buildings and civilians. He raced back inside and tore up the stairs. He flung open the door to Kanda's room. The door banged against the wall loudly. Kanda, who was in the middle of his afternoon meditation, was not pleased.

"Kanda, akuma are coming, four level threes and a group of level ones," puffed Allen.

Link appeared out of his shared room with Allen next door. He had heard the bang and came to investigate. He overheard what Allen had said. "Hurry, I'll evacuate the area."

Kanda shot up and grabbed his katana laying by his knee. He strode to the window ripping in open, leaving it dangling on a single hind and jumped out of the second story window. He landed gracefully and sprinted off to the hill. Allen followed right behind him.

~ OoOo ~

"Kagome!" The kids shouted as she and the mayor entered the door. The kids dropped what they were playing with and darted to get the best spot in front of a mound of pillows. They had set up everything already. Kagome laughed as she walked to her spot.

"Someone is egger." She giggled. She folded her legs under and fell back onto the pillows. The kids inched forward, all bright eyed. The pains of their wounds and the horrors they witnessed just a couple days ago were all but forgotten. "What story should I tell today?" she asked.

"Cinderella!" Lena shouted.

"Sleeping Beauty!" came from an older girl.

"Snow White!" a deep voice called from behind the children. The mayor had seated himself on a chair in the back. He was sitting right on the edge of the seat. He was just as excited as the kids. Even as a small child he loved her stories. Hasn't change since he grew up and had children of his own and he always chose Snow White. He got such a kick from Grumpy.

"No, too girly." This came from Lena's older brother. "What about Peter Pan?"

Kagome had taken to telling stories from her childhood. Fairytales full of Prince Charmings and magic, pieces of her past she didn't want to lose. So she shared them. It wasn't like it was hard, she loved kids even if it was long past since she could have one of her own. Menopause at the physical age of 23 was not fun.

The children nodded in agreement for Peter Pan and so Kagome started to tell them a tale about a world made of pixy dust and a boy who never grew up.

~ OoOo ~

Allen jumped off the akuma before it exploded. He got two more on the descent. Then quickly dodged a wind attack from a level three. Both his and Kanda's sword flashed as they cut down the demons.

The battle had been going on longer than normal. The akuma were getting smarter. The third levels were using the first levels to block his and Kanda's attacks and then countering with their own elemental assaults. They've been fighting for over ten minutes already and they haven't gotten a single one.

Allen and Kanda glanced at each other during a lull and nodded. Allen ran straight at the lead akuma, sword held in front. The levels ones were quick to move in the way but Allen was ready. He released clown belt and stabbed all the nearby akuma leaving an opening for Kanda to come in a slice the level three in half. Which he did with his normal over-the-top flare.

The tide had been turned. Kanda faced off against the lead akuma. His second illusion attack crashing into the shield of earth the akuma manipulated. Dirt clouded the moon and a ripple of thunder raced over the torn hill.

Now that most of the first level akuma were dead, it was easy for Allen to reach the other level threes. Using the crown clown Allen lifted himself high into the air and came at an akuma from above. His sword ran right through it from head to toe. The two parts fell away only to explode seconds later.

He turned to face the last one only to see that it had left the battle field. Allen passed the still engaged Kanda searching for the last level three. He ran to the center of town before he finally spotted it.

Allen's eyes widened as he saw where it was heading.

~ OoOo ~

"Kagome?" A small boy asked. He half crawling on her lap as he tried to get her attention. Kagome had stopped in the middle of her tale, right as Captain Hook was pushing Wendy off the pirate ship. The kids were getting restless waiting for her to continue.

"Huh?" Kagome looked down at her lap and at the young child. "Sorry, my mind wondered off there for a second." She said distractedly, and turned back to look through the window. She squinted, trying and see past the town square and find whatever it was that had caught her eye. There was something out there. She hadn't had much opportunity put her priestess senses to use but she never stopped remembering the ominous feel of approaching danger.

"Kagome?" The mayor asked, looking concerned. "Is there something wrong?" He stood up from his chair in the back and made his way forward. Trending softly, listening in case he heard what it was that was bothering her.

"Not sure." Kagome mumbled before shaking her head and flashed the mayor a reassuring smile. "I just thought I saw something outside. It was probably nothi..."

**BOOM**

~ OoOo ~

"It's heading towards the mayor's house!" Allen shouted in Kanda's direction. He didn't bother to look to see if Kanda had heard him. He just ran as fast as he could to get to the house before something terrible happened. He didn't make it.

Allen watched in horror as the akuma held up its' hand toward the top floor of the west wing and hurled a giant ball of raging fire into one of the windows.

**BOOM**

Screams could be heard coming from within. Fires started up everywhere, smoke hiding the damage inside the house.

Allen ran and jumped straight at the akuma. His sword easily sliced through it. He landed in the newly formed hole in the wall and stared at the wreckage covering the ground.

~ OoOo ~

Kagome's head hurt. No, her whole body hurt. Damn, who was pounding on her brain and why was the room spinning? Groaning, Kagome lifted her head out of the dust and tried to see what had happened. Smoke filled the air making her cough and bring to attention the taste of blood in her mouth. Her lip was bleeding. Why was her lip bleeding? What happened? Kagome couldn't make out anything but small fires. She called out, hoping someone would answer.

"Kagome!" There was a voice.

"Mayor?" Why was the mayor's voice ringing in her head? Wasn't he listening to her story? Snow White, no wait, Kagome paused, that wasn't right there were no pirates in Snow White and she was sure she just mentioned something about walking the plank. Kagome decided not to ponder it anymore. It was making her head pound.

"Over here, follow my voice." There it was again. Oh, the voice wasn't in her head. That was good. She would have been crazy if it was. Kagome started to crawl. She kept her head bent as she attempted to navigate the debris littering area. It seemed like a good idea through she couldn't remember why. Placing one hand in front of the other, she didn't stop afraid that if she did the fires would consume her.

"This way." She could just make out the mayor's form through the dense smoke. "Hurry!"

A large hand was held out to her. She grabbed it and was pulled through the doorway and down the hall.

"Thank god, you're ok." The mayor exclaimed. His hands searched for any breaks or cuts she might have gotten. "Are you hurt? Any pain?" He sounded winded, like the time he tried to lose weight by exercising. That's funny, why would he be working out when the building was on fire? Kagome couldn't help but think that it was a strange time to suddenly worry about your weight.

Besides he wasn't that over weight. Kagome looked him up and down. Now that they were out of the room Kagome was able to see the mayor. He looked terrible. His coat was only held on by tattered remains, ripped in too many places to ever repair. His grey hair was peppered further with dust and debris. A large red mark stained his under shirt. He looked like he just came from a battle. Wait! Kagome's eyes grew big as she finally remembered what had happened. There had been something outside. Something that made a chill crawl up her spine after that all she could remember was a large Boom and screaming. Kagome shook her head, trying to clear away the last of the fog.

"I'm Ok, heads ringing though. What about you? Is that blood?" Kagome waved his searching hands away and pointed to the red stain.

The mayor stepped back, not at all happy with what he had seen but knew better then to push the issue. Kagome had large cut on her upper arm. It wasn't deep but it was still bleeding slowly. Her right pant leg was badly burnt. Her leg would need some burn cream nut it looked like it was only a first degree. Through her hair was really charred, he didn't want to be near her when she saw that but over all she seemed fine.

"It's not mine" He answered her question. He gave her one last look over making sure she was able to walk on her own then turned and walked down the hall. Kagome followed behind him.

"What do you mean not yours?" Kagome was confused. How could it not be his, it was on his shirt wasn't it? "If not your then whose..." Kagome trailed off. Her eyes widened. If it wasn't his then it was someone else's, someone who was with them during the blast.

"The children!" Kagome turned round and started to run back down the burnt hall. She only took a few steps before her small hand was caught in a much bigger grasp. "The children, we have to go save them!" Kagome yelled at the mayor. She tugged at his firm hold but couldn't free herself. Why did he understand, the children needed their help. Why wasn't he letting her go?

"Kagome, calm down." The mayor pulled her to his chest and wrapped his large arms around her in a vice grip. "They are safe. They're hidden in the tornado bunker under the manor. You were the last one out of the room." He held her for another moment as she comprehended what he was saying. When she stopped struggling he pulled his arms away and took her hand softly pulling her away from the damaged room.

"But the blood!" Kagome asked, no longer fighting his lead.

"One girl had a head wound. She was knocked out so I had to carry her. A maid is with her now. She'll be fine." The mayor looked over his shoulder at her. His green eyes held so much worry, but there was no panic in them. This more than anything calmed Kagome down. He gave her a sad smile and spoke in a softer tone."I repeat, there all ok"

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. "What happened?" she asked. She hurried her steps so she walked beside him instead of being pulled along.

"Not sure. There was a blast from down the hall. It was so big we were caught in its explosion." Kagome opened her mouth to ask a question but there was a loud voice that interrupted her.

"Hello is everyone all right?" The call came from behind them, back where the fires were still burning.

"Allen?" Kagome asked. "What is he doing here?"

The mayor just shrugged in confusion.

"We're over here!" Kagome shouted back. They waited for him to appear. He did after a few seconds. His eyes searched them franticly looking for any signs of serious wounds. When he saw that they were ok. There was a visible weight that left his shoulders.

"You're ok" he said hunched over, hands on his knees. The must have been running or was really that worried for them, he was panting so hard. Though it could have been smoke inhalation. Then he straightened out fast, he eyes wide with fear. "The children-"

"They're fine." The mayor anticipated his question and held up a hand to strive off anymore. He asked his own question in return. "Do you know what happened?"

"Yes." Allen nodded his head. "Akuma are attacking the village."

"Demons?" the mayor whispered. He looked at Kagome in shock. She saw the look but didn't meet his eyes. She just continued to stare at Allen. Allen luckily didn't see the exchange.

"Kanda and I were fighting them when one got away and attacked the house. You need to get everyone somewhere safe until we finish off the last of them. No one but an exorcist can kill an akuma." He didn't wait for an answer, confident they would do as he said, turned around and ran back the way he came.

Kagome moved to follow him but again her hand was grabbed. "Where do you think you're going? Didn't you hear him? Only Exorcists can kill akuma."

Kagome raised an eye brow. "Mayor, people may be hurt. I have to help them. You seem to have forgotten that I have power too" Kagome yanked her hand back trying to get the mayor to let her go.

The mayor closed his eyes, pained but couldn't disagree. He pushed her away and said. "Go, but be careful."

Kagome didn't hesitate and rushed off down the stairs. Once at the door she turned and gave the mayor a quick smile and wave. Then went out to join the chaos.

~ OoOo ~

"Kagome! Move." Allen rushed in front of the blast aimed at Kagome. Throwing his body on top of hers, knocking hre to the ground. He used his own body to shield her from the blast. The Crowned Clown protecting them both, and shoot up to kill the attacking akuma.

"What are you doing out here?" Allen pulled off of her and helped her up before grabbing her shoulders and shook her. His frame was not all that bigger than hers but he did have an unexpected amount of strength. "Get under cover. You can't do anything to fight them." Allen had to shout to be heard over the sound of battle between Kanda and the last level three. His eyes were pleading that she would listen and let protect her. If Kagome had the time she would have rolled her eyes, as if she needed a hero. She conveniently forgot her recent confusion from the akuma blast.

"I won't just sit and cower in fear when there are people hurt." Kagome shoved Allen off of her and ran over to the man trapped under a fallen roof. She called over her shoulder, "If you want to protect me then destroy the monsters."

Allen stood still for a moment trying to decide what to do. Should he go after her? It didn't take him long to see that Kagome would not listen to him. He gritted his teeth and throughout a small prayer for her safety before turning and rejoined the fight with Kanda. Together they finally destroyed the last level three, only a few level ones still remained

~ OoOo ~

"Are you alright?" Kagome panted as she fell beside the trapped man. One of the houses had been hit by an akuma causing it to collapse into rubble. The large support beam that ran the distance of the roof had fallen on a brown haired middle aged man. He didn't seem too hurt but it was apparent he couldn't move and there was a large fire heading closer.

"I can't move my leg. It's trapped under the beam." The panicked face of the man stared up at her. The fire was slowly inching closer, the flames casted a red and yellow glow on the man's dirty face. Sparks polluted the air, bring even more danger and the smoke was chocking their lungs. At this point if the fire didn't kill you the smoke inhalation would

"Hold on, I'm going to try to lift this beam." Kagome scrabbled up to her. She pushed her singed hair from her face as she looked for a sturdy place to hold onto, or at least a place that wasn't on fire. "Ok, on the count of three. One two, three." Straining, they were able to lift the beam off of him enough so he could pull his leg out. The leg was bad. It was completely crushed from the knee down. The knee cap was fine but Kagome doubted the man would ever be able to truly walk again. Even with her powers he would have a slight limp. But he was alive. They scrambled on hands and knees to get out of the path of the raging fire, finding shelter next to a brick wall. Panting, her from the large effort her small body wasn't used to and him from the enormous amount of pain, they fell against it and watched as Allen and Kanda fought to finish off the remaining akuma.

"Daddy!" A young female voice yelled.

"Lena?" the man whispered. Kagome and the man turned to look over the wall. Their hearts dropped as they spotted the small figure of a child running through battle field. Lena, the little girl she had helped heal just this morning was walking right in the middle of an akuma attack. Why is she here? Isn't she supposed to be in the bunker? The mayor said all the children were in the tornado bucker.

"Go back, stay away!" The man begged what must have been his daughter to turn around. The fear was easy to see in his eyes, so was the helplessness of not being able to move to get her out of there. Kagome could move and though she didn't want to leave the man's side it wasn't like it was a hard choice on what to do. But it was too late. Lena hadn't listened to her father and kept right on running towards them. Taking her right into the path of the very last akuma.

"No!" Tears ran down Kagome's cheeks even as she ran to try and save the small child. She wouldn't get there in time and she was forced to watch as the akuma aimed its' cannon on her small body and fired.

~ OoOo ~

"Shit." Kanda swore as he saw the child running in the middle of the street. A level one laid recently destroyed at his feet, Mugan sticking out of it. There was only one more akuma left but it was easily enough to destroy one little girl.

Allen was too far away, even with crown clown he would never make it in time. Kanda was the only one who could do something. He didn't hesitate.

He ran and threw his self at the akuma. Crashing into it with his own body. The hit sent the bullet wide just clearing the girl and crashing into the road sending rocks and dirt into the air. Allen finally arrived and finished the thing. As the dust cleared from the blast, they saw the result. The little girl was lying in a small pool of blood. The blast hadn't killed her but the debris had caught the side of her leg. Including, to the exorcist's horror, a small chunk of the bullet. The akuma's poison was already spreading fast, she only had s minute to live.

A cry split the air. Kanda turned from the girl and saw the healer rushing toward the fallen girl. Allen jumped in front of the women and grabbed her. If she got covered in the blood and there was an open wound on her, she could get infected with the virus as well.

~ OoOo ~

"You can't do anything! It's too late." Allen was struggling to hold on to the women. She was a lot stronger then she looked, not to mention she must have had some fighting experience. That knee was getting a little close to a very soft spot. "The virus is already killing her." He shouted trying to make her see sense. He would have to use crown clown if she didn't settle down soon. "If you go it will only kill you to!"

"No, I won't let it!" Kagome yelled, kicking and hitting Allen as she fought his hold. Good God, why didn't he just let her go? She had too hurry before it was too late. She could still save her if Allen would... just... let... her...Go. With one hard knee she was free. Allen was too busy moaning in pain to grab her again. Kagome raced to Lena's side.

"No! You'll get infected too." Allen cried out, his voice a little higher pitched.

"No I won't. I've done this before." Kagome fell to her knees beside the star covered girl and pulled her into a strong hug. She ignored the blood seeping through her pants and gently held her hand over the largest cut on the child's leg. "I will save you" she whispered into the child's ear. "I promise." As she whispered the last line her body started to glow.

Allen watched in awe as a pink light started to shine from Kagome's hand, slowly got bigger and brighter until the pink glow had fully surrounded the pair of them. The pink light pulsed, a drum beat that ran through the earth. With each beat the light began to grow purple in color. The more purple the color got the more faded the stars appeared on the girl's skin. Allen watched in wonder as the last star pentacle disappeared and the cut stitched itself up, not even a scar remained. The glow slowly faded leaving a fully healed girl in Kagome's arms.

The two of girls stayed clutching each other for a time after. Both truly scared at how close death had come in taking an innocent child away. Moments later they pulled apart still staring at each other. The girl suddenly burst into tears and would not allow herself to be taken away until she had cried herself to sleep. Kagome rocking her in her lap the entire time.

~ OoOo ~

AN.

This has not been edited by a beta, so please, if there are any mistakes point them out for me. Thank-you

Next time on Purity,

Forth Book: Reluctant Goodbyes


	4. Book IV: Reluctant Goodbye

Purity,

Disclaimer:

Forth Book: Reluctant Goodbye

"You lied to us," accused Link. He had finished evacuating the people out of the buildings near where the initial fighting started and had been making his way to the center of town when he had seen the Mayor's house go up in smoke. He quickly organized a small rescue operation with those still able and willing to help. The younger ones drawing water from the well in the court yard and the older helping to carry those that were caught in the blast. His vantage point had allowed him to see Kagome race to the little girl and use her, "nonexistent," powers to heal her. He had seen everything and she hadn't used any herbs.

She had lied to them. She would have made them come all this way, wasting valuable time if it wasn't for this little accident. Link was furious.

"You told us you had no powers." He gritted his teeth and clenched his hand trying to get a hold of himself and retain his training. He glared hard at the women still on the ground. The fact that she didn't even flinch just made him angrier.

"I never lied to you." Kagome said calmly as she slowly got off the ground trying hard not to wake the sleeping girl and handed her over to the Mayor. The girl's father was beside him being held up by two town's men. He had tears in his eyes and kept mouthing, "Thank you," as he didn't seem able to speak. Kagome smiled at the man. She then bent down and slowly made a show of dusting her pants before finally turning to the enraged Link.

You just assumed I didn't." She continued straight faced. "You never asked me if I had any powers and I wasn't about to just speak up."

"But you knew we were searching for you and your power. Why didn't you say anything" Link stormed right up to her, still clenching his hands.

Kanda and Allen were standing off to the side. Both were covered in mud and dust, Allen sporting a couple of burns to his jacket. Both were silent as they watched the argument though for different reasons. Kanda being Kanda wasn't about to start speaking even if he was as pissed as Link. He forcefully slammed Mugen into its sheath and stormed out of the crowd of people. He lent against a sturdy wall a few meters away and crossed his arms.

Allen also released his innocence, his left arm returning and the crown clown fading away. Though he didn't leave the crowd still confused as to what had happened. Kagome had saved that little girls life, something that should have been impossible unless she had innocence. But never said she had powers, did that mean she lied to them?

"Because you would have made me leave." Kagome was shouting back at the arrogant man. Her own fists clenched. "Leave everything I have here as you force me to join your precious Order." Kagome took a deep breath and exhale though her nose she did it again and counted to ten. Regaining a trace of her old calm she pivoted away from Link. "I don't want to talk about this now. People are hurt. I'm going to help them. I ask that you do the same." She marched off through the gathered crowd, not once looking back.

Link, Allen and Kanda watched her leave in silence. The crowd that had been forming since Kagome had used her powers started to whisper. The men and women who were once welcoming were now glaring hatefully at the exorcists.

Link and Kanda shrugged it off but Allen had always been a people person and hated when others were mad at him. The fierce looks were making him uncomfortable. "I'm going to help to." Allen said. He started to go in the same direction as Kagome but stopped after a couple steps. Unsure if he would be welcomed near her and if he even wanted to be. He hesitated a bit longer before heading down the block next to the one Kagome went down.

"Che," Kanda turned and walked in the opposite direction then Allen. Unlike Allen, he understood. Kagome somehow knew about the Black Order and didn`t want to join so she kept quiet about her powers. Kanda had noticed that no one from the town had been surprised by her powers.

She must have told them not to tell any outsides about it. But she didn`t know we were here before she came. Does this mean that she was expecting us? The finders... Komui said they had gotten lost in the forest. I wonder how much of that was truly their fault or if any of the villagers, "helped," them. Kanda pondered as he made his way back to the hotel room.

Link stayed where he was for another moment, watching Allen and Kanda leave. He had noticed the same things as Kanda. These people were not allies of the Church. They would hide Kagome when there should have given her over to the Order as was their rightful duty. Link glared back at the masses and strode out of the circle in the direction Allen took. The villagers move out of his way, still whispering and glowering at the young man.

~ OoOo ~

Kagome was angry, though more towards herself then towards Link. Of course they would be angry. They came all the way here just to find her and she had lied to them. The worst part is that she couldn't feel guilty about it. What right did they have to dictate her life? All she ever wanted after finally settling down in this world was peace and quiet. No more gallivanting after demons, risking life and limb. Been there, done that. Kagome sighed.

But since when has the Catholic Church taken, "No," for an answer?

God damn it.

Kagome looked up to the sky, easily finding the familiar constellations. They never changed, no matter what world or time she was thrown into. She sighed again and ran her hand through her hair. Poor Allen, he looked so confused when Link was yelling at her. She didn't mean to hurt him, especially since he had been so nice to her at dinner. She just really, really didn't want to get involve with the Catholic Church.

Kagome was so distracted by her musings she hadn't been watching where she was going and ran right into a breathing wall. The force of the bang knocked her off her feet and she started to fall. Luckily two strong arms grabbed her around the waist and held her against a warm body.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." She started to pull away but the person only hugged her tighter. Fingers clenched at her shirt, afraid that if they should let go, she would disappear. And that just may be true.

"You have to go with them tomorrow don't you?" The soft baritone voice rumbled through the man's chest.

"I don't have a choice. If I run they will only follow." Kagome pulled back a bit and looked up into the brown eyes of the mayor. "I've been avoiding this for so long. Maybe it's time." Kagome trailed off into a grimace.

The mayor closed his eyes and pulled her even closer. He rested his head on hers.

"You will always be welcome here" He whispered.

"Thank you. You've been so kind to me" Kagome raised her arms and embraced him back, her hands lightly resting on his shoulders.

"I should be thanking you. You've done so much for the people here." The mayor shook his head. A small laugh escaped his throat. "The immortal healer who travels from town to town healing the sick and helping the poor. The children call you an angel, did you know?"

"Yes I did. Are they ok?"

"They're fine, all but Lena. I came to find her but it seems you had found her first."

There was a long sad silence. It was suffocating, not awkward though. Each lost in their own thoughts on what had happened today and what would happen tomorrow. The mayor was the first to crack. His gravelly voice had the hint of tears.

"I remember the first time I meet you. I was three years old and my sister had told me a story about a beautiful angel that was going to come to town. I was so excited. But when you finally did arrive, I hid behind my mother's skirts the whole time." The mayor laughed. He finally released her and took a step back so she could look at him without staining her neck. His eyes were still a little damp.

"I remember." Kagome joined in the laughter. "Your sister was so embarrassed. She insisted that you weren't related and that she had no idea who you were."

Their laughter grew. Drawing looks from the villagers around them. They calmed after a few minutes.

"I will miss you." A sad smile appeared on his face.

"I'll miss you too. Can you do one last thing for me?" Kagome asked.

"Anything."

"I need to write three letters which have to be sent to different villages. Can you find some people to take them for me?" Kagome said. The mayor didn't enquire about the content of the letters.

"Sure, I'll ask George, Jack and Frank to do it. George and Frank have been arguing again today. Something about a cannon..." The mayor trailed off, his face puzzled.

"A cannon?" Kagome raised her eyebrow.

The mayor shrugged helplessly."No idea. Any ways it would do them some good to be apart for awhile. How they're best friends I'll never understand. Those two are always fighting." He rolled his eyes.

"That's true. Thanks"

"Kagome?" The mayor stepped forward and wrapped her in another quick hug.

"Hummm," Kagome rested her head against his chest.

"Will this truly be goodbye? You're like a mother to everyone in this town." He sounded so young just then, not at all like his forty year old self.

Kagome just hugs him tight. She ignores the tears welling in her eyes.

"I hope not, I really, really hope not."

~ OoOo ~

The morning came way too soon.

Last night was long. After the battle finished everyone helped with the cleaning. There wasn't much damage done to the town itself but the mayor's house was almost completely destroyed. Only the east wing remained standing and even then no one was allowed in, scared it would fall at any moment. Luckily, the owner of the town's hotel was a kind old lady who let everyone who had been staying at the house stay the night at the inn. Kagome had chosen the room across from the exorcists, mostly because it was the only room still free as no one wanted to be near them.

It had taken a long time to find all her things from the wreckage. Even with the help from the villagers. Then between helping heal all the injuries from the attack and still helping with those from the land slide, she wasn't able to get into her room until very late. And then she had stayed up thinking about the events that would take place tomorrow and writing the letters. So when the morning came, Kagome was not in the best of moods.

Stupid exorcists! Stupid Church! Come into my life and screw everything up. Kagome yanked hard at the brush tangled in her hair. Trying to fix the birds nest it had become overnight. She gave another hard yank and ended up tipping her vanity stool over. She reached out for something to grab only to knock the glass basin of water on top of her. "Shit," she hissed, clenching her shin. The bowl was heavier then it looked, luckily it wasn't broken. Not that you could proclaim the same about her leg. She was covered in water too. What a great way to start the day.

She took a deep breath and calmed down. Picked herself of the floor, gingerly placing her weight on her leg. When it didn't cripple beneath her she made her way over to her bags and pulled out a new outfit. She ignored the fact that she may have exaggerated her wound a bit, since it only took a tiny portion of her healing powers to fade the bruise.

"What if I told them that my healing power isn't from innocence but from me being a priestess?" Kagome pondered out loud as she struggled to get out of her wet pants. "No, that would only lead to more questions and I really don't want to tell them I'm over 300 years old and from another dimension." She snorted. "I wonder what the church would say if I told them?" Kagome gave an ironic giggle and pulled off her wet shirt.

"Not that it would make a difference anyways. Since, I actually do have innocence". Kagome looked down at her uncovered self. Right above the star shaped scar she had gotten when that centipede demon ripped the Shikon Jewel from her body, was a slightly glowing cross imbedded in her skin.

**Knock, Knock**

Someone was at the door.

"One moment." Kagome yelled as she pulled on the rest of her clothes, hopping on one foot to get her last sock on and opened the door. On the other side were the three exorcists. Link and Kanda stood in front. Link had his hand raised to knock again. Allen was a bit behind the older two looking a little unsure of what to think of her. Kagome's heart dropped a little from the look on his face.

Kagome motioned for them to come in, stepping aside and crossing over to the bed. She pulled her feet up to hide her miss matched socks and watched the three men enter. Link entered first, with Kanda and Allen following shortly behind. Kanda only just entered, staying by the closed door. He propped himself at the door way and crossed him arms. His attention seemed to be on the window, ignoring everything else in the room. Allen wondered a bit, looking at her packed bags before walking over to the vanity and righting her stool. He gave a curious look to the wet floor but just wiped off the wet seat and sat down. Link, however, marched right over to her and got down to business.

"You will be coming with us back to headquarters and you will become a member of the Black Order." Link stated. Not asked, stated.

Kagome bowed her head, trying to hide her scowl. "I know," she said shortly. She got off the bed and stepped around Link to her suitcase. Lifting it up, she turned back to Link.

"But before I go with you, I need to stop at another town." Kagome said.

Link refused instantly, "No, we need to get to headquarters right away."

Kagome shook her head and picked up the letters sitting on the dresser. "If you want me to come with you without putting up a fight you will allow me to go. It's only the next town over. The stop won't take more than five days." She said calmly.

Before Link could refuse again, Kanda stepped in, his voice startling those farther in the room. "Why?" he asked. He lazily opened his closed eyes and glanced at her. Kagome was silent for a moment.

"There are some things I need to collect and a promise I need to keep." Kagome evaded the question. Kanda opened his eyes a bit wider only to give her a hard glare but didn't bother to say anything else.

"Fine, but no more than a week tops. Collect your things. We leave as soon as possible." Link turned around without any further ado and crossed to the closed door. He almost wrenched it opened and, without sparing a look at either Allen or Kanda, walked out. Kanda slowly pulled himself up and followed behind leaving Allen to catch up. The white haired child quickly got up and moved to the door. He didn't say anything as he shut the door behind him.

Kagome fell back onto her bed and blew at the bangs that flopped on her face. This was not going to be fun.

~ OoO ~

"Lena, are you awake?" Kagome called hesitantly, slowly opened the door to Lena's room.

Lena had been really shook up from the battle and still hadn't woken up from last night when Kagome came to check on her earlier. Everything had been fine and there wasn't any relapse from the Akuma virus. Not that Kagome was truly worried but she still hoped Lena was awake now as she had to leave soon.

"Yes," A high pitched voice of a child called back. Kagome smiled in relief and fully opened the door and stepped inside. Lena was sitting up in bed, surrounded with all her stuffed animals. Each one as loved as the last, from the rabbit missing an ear to the baby doll in the homemade dress. And nestled in all the colours was Lena with tears running down her face.

Shocked, Kagome hurriedly closed the door behind her and went to sit down beside the girl on the edge of the bed. Kagome was a bit surprised when Lena immediately crawled out from under her covers and into her lap, but closed her arms around the shaking body and began to slowly rock.

"Shhhh" She hushed into strawberry blonde hair. "What's wrong hunny?"

Sniff, there was the wet sound of snot being wiped on her shirt, not that Kagome cared. Then, in a small voice muffled by her coat, "Daddy..." hic, "Daddy said that... that..." The poor girl was trying so hard to speak through her tears. Kagome wrapped her arms a bit tighter then softly pulled the girl away from her chest. She looked down into blue eyes and wiped at the tear stain cheeks.

"What did daddy say?" Kagome whispered tenderly.

Tears trailed down the youthful, open face. "He... He said that you were leaving and that you may never come back!" The dam burst and Kagome once again had her arms full of a crying girl. The force of the collision knocked her back against the pink pillows. Lena cuddled close to the older girl and held strong to her coat. She begged into her chest. "Please don't leave."

"I'm sorry." Kagome mumbled. She sighed and wrapped her arms around the girl, looking up at the ceiling and fighting her own tears. She tried to find a way to explain, a way to convince the child she had to leave. A hard thing to do without scaring the girl, not to mention she wasn't all that happy about going herself. "I have to go. They are saints, Lena. God sent them here to find me. They need my help. I can't say no to God, can I?"

"...No," Kagome couldn't help the small smile at the pouting answer.

Lena suddenly pulled back, still clenching her coat and looked at Kagome with large innocent eyes. "If God wants you to go then I'm going to pray that he lets you come back to visit!" Lena exclaimed. Her face light up in an excited small, so glad she was able to do something to help.

"That is a great idea!" Kagome smiled at the innocent remark and after one last hug set the girl down on the bed and tucked her in. Kagome said her good-byes, still smiling at the girl who was telling her how she was going to tell everyone in the town to pray for her as well. She gave Lena a kiss on the cheek, then left, closing the door softy behind her.

"I need all the prayers I can get." Kagome whispered under her voice, still staring at the closed door. She shook her head still smiling and wiped at the tears collecting in her eyes. Turning around she gave a small jump in fright at seeing Kanda standing there, leaning against the hallway.

"We are ready to leave." His voice was hard, emotionless but Kagome fancied she saw his eyes get a bit... softer, when he glanced at the door. Kagome smile again and shook her head, even after 300 years she was still such a damn romantic. Internal rolling her eyes at herself, she looked Kanda in the eyes and collected her bags from the floor. "I'm ready." She sighed.

Kanda didn't respond. He just turned around and led her out of the house and to the outskirts of town. He never once looked back to see if she was following. This time Kagome really did roll her eyes.

~ OoOo ~

"Did you call Komui?" Link asked the white haired boy standing reluctantly beside him. He didn't turn to see Allen's reaction. His eyes were glued to the site of the town in the direction Kanda went to pick up Kagome. His lips were pierced.

Allen was startled out of his thoughts with the question. He was getting startled a lot today. He just couldn't stop thinking about Kagome and how she didn't want to be an exorcist. He just could not understand why she would lie to them, why she didn't want to join the Order. Ever since he had heard of The Earl and his dark mission he could think of nothing else. Even suffered years under the, "care," of his master. How could a woman as nice as Kagome walk away from something that? It just didn't make sense.

"Yes," Allen replied, driving his thoughts back. "He said to phone him with our location when we are ready to come home so he can be prepared." Link nodded absentmindedly. Not paying much attention to the boy as Kagome and Kanda had just appeared over the hill.

Kagome's appearance sparked a roar of noise. It seemed as if everyone from the village had heard the Kagome would be leaving and had come to say good bye. Allen could see the stout form of the mayor standing with a group of young children. The kind hotel manager and the barmaid stood off to one side, smiling at Kagome in between them shooting dark looks at Link. The three men from the restaurant were also there, each one holding the rains to a horse for some reason.

It was easy to see that she was loved by the people of the town. Everyone wanted to hug her good bye, shake her hand. Many were crying. Well wishes and, "please come back," were spoken by everyone and not only from people of this town. Somehow last night word had spread throughout the surrounding area and there had been a large amount of people arriving from other towns to also say good bye.

Allen pulled at his sleeves nervously. She confused him. He watched as Kagome kissed, hugged and shook hands with everyone present. He just could not understand her. Allen glanced over to Kanda but found no help, only a glare when their eyes met before Kanda turned away and stared into the forest again. Link was no better. The man was checking the time on his watch for the second time since Kagome had arrived.

Allen turned back to watch Kagome. She released the barmaid from a hug and turned to walk over to the group of children. When they saw her coming their way, the children ran to her and tackled her to the ground. The larger children backed off the fallen women to huddle by her side. The younger ones crawled into her lap and hung off her arms. Each of the children had tears in their eyes as they tried to convince her to stay. She just laughed and kissed each one on the forehead, telling them to be good so they could play when she came back.

She nodded once to the mayor. He nodded back but looked like he wanted nothing more than to lock her in a tower and throw away the key. He managed to keep face and guide her towards the three standing with horses, one hand possessively on the small of her back.

The youngest of the three, Jack, Allen remembered, pulled her into a large hug before wiping tears from his eyes and handing her over to the eldest. George reached for her hand and gave it a slow kiss, fluttering his eyelashes making the town's people laugh. Kagome returned his playful affections with a curtsy. The last one grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a hug before spinning her around and lowering her into a deep dip. Allen didn't notice the man moving his hand down Kagome's waist to pinch her butt until Kagome gave a loud noise of outrage and slapped him playfully in the arm.

When the group's laughter died out Kagome gave each of the three men an envelope and told them to ride as fast as they could and be careful. She stressed the, 'be careful,' part to the youngest who could only blush at her worry and the other two men's teasing. They stowed the letters in the saddle and swung their bodies up to mount the horses, George took a couple tries to get his large frame up. Waved good bye to the rest of the village and after one last heartfelt good bye to Kagome, Frank blowing a kiss, they left. Allen had wanted to ask about the letters but he was unsure where he stood with Kagome. He wanted to think they were friends but wasn't sure anymore.

Two hours after Kanda had done to get her all the goodbyes were finished. And to Link ire they were finally on their way by late morning, heading to the town on the other side of the forest and then to the Black Order to introduce their newest exorcist.

They had only been on the road for a few minutes, just reaching the edge of the forest before Link asked the question that was on everyone mind.

"Why didn't you tell us about your power?" The three boys all stopped and turned around to look at Kagome. She had been trailing behind them.

Kagome sighed and set down her bags. She rolled her shoulders back to try an ease the tension. In truth she was stalling for time. '"Because I didn't want this to happen." She said waving her hand to indicate the road and back to the town. You could still make out the crowd of people still watching them leave. "I didn't want to leave my life here. I don't want to join the Order just to risk my life fighting a war. Everyday forced to fight with demons, never knowing if you will survive to see the next day. What kind of life is that?" Kagome asked them. She internally smirked at the irony of her last sentence.

The group was silent, not knowing how to truly answer that question. Well perhaps Link did as his face went red as he opened his mouth to say something. But before he could lecture her again, Kanda ignored the man with a more pressing question of his own. Kagome was beginning to think that Kanda really didn't like Link. Really didn't like him, not like the superficially hatred him and Allen shared.

"How do you know about the war and akuma?" He asked in his emotionless voice. He held her eyes, daring her to give him a half answer like she did earlier in the hotel room.

'Because I'm over 300 years old and akuma are kind of hard to miss.' Kagome thought sarcastically in her head. 'It's not like the Earl has been hiding what he has been doing.' But of course she couldn't say that out loud. So instead stared back at Kanda, her eyes taking in Link's reddened and suspicions face and Allen's curious one. She took a deep breath and quickly ran her story through her head one last time. Nodding to herself she answered. "You're not the first exorcists that I've met."

The three boy's eyes widened, they had not been expecting that. "Who did you meet?" Allen asked, speaking to her for the first time since the fight last night. His curiosity getting the better of him. Kagome gave him a large smile, relieved he was talking to her again. Allen blushed. Kagome's smile just grew a bit bigger before turning to look at the other two. She took another deep breath before saying.

"General Cross Marian."

~ OoOo ~

AN.

Next time on Purity,

Fifth Book: Her Past


	5. Book V: Her Past

Purity,

Disclaimer

AN. Thanks for all those that reviewed

Fifth Book: Her Past

366 years, that's how long Kagome has been in this world. 366 years ago she had woken up in the middle of a forest alone. The graves she had just dug weren't there. The earth was not covered in battle scars. Blood did not stain the ground. The only things that she had were her cloths, some of her friend's weapons that she had on her and the Shikon Jewel.

The Jewel had no hint of magic left. Her wish had worked. But what had the Jewel done?

It didn't take her long the figure out that the Jewel had sent her to another world. One where demons didn't exist and there were no need for Mikos.

She tried her best to find her way back. She was used to leaving her time for another but another world? It was too much for her. She started to collect every bit of information about magic and supernatural power that she could find. She has quite the large book collection.

Years had passed with no luck. No hint of a way home and the only source of powers came from her. A couple years after she arrived Kagome was shocked when she had noticed she wasn't ageing. Five years pasted, ten years and she still had the appearance of a 23 year old. The town's people had also noticed and branded her as a witch. That was when Kagome found out that not only did she not age but she couldn't die either. They had burnt her at the stake. Her body turned to ash. That night, however, the ash collected itself and a burst of white light appeared. When the light died down there was Kagome completely unmarked.

The jewel had cursed her with immortality in a strange world.

Then, 60 years after she had arrived to this world. Japan closed its boarders to outsiders, no one in, no one out and the Earl started his campaign.

Kagome had started to lose hope by this time. Until one day she had spotted the Earl in a graveyard. He was telling a small child that he could bring his mother back from the dead and all the child had to do was call out for her. Kagome was so excited. If this person could bring back the dead then could he also help her back home?

So she watched. She watched in awe as the Earl conjured up a metal skeleton and saw the soul of the dead enter it. She watched in horror as the skeleton turned around and killed the small child. The voice of the mother coming from the skeleton begged for it to stop. She watched through tears as the akuma slid into the skin of the dead child. She watched with her hands over her ears as the Earl laughed and laughed.

The child's name had been James. He and his mother lived by themselves in the forest. The father had been a trapper that had died years ago in a accident. They had lived off of the land with little money as a single mother was not welcome to work in the village and no one would marry her as she had a son with a different man. All they had were each other and now they were dead. Kagome never forgot that little boy.

That had been her first encounter with the Earl and this world's version of demons. To say the least, Kagome didn't go and ask the Earl for help.

She did, however, find out as much as she could about him and the akuma.

Now that Kagome knew about the Earl it was very easy for her to spot him and his "work". She was still searching for any way home but she kept a sharp eye on the Earl's activities. She used all her knowledge and powers to stay hidden from him and to help all she could. During this time Kagome found out about a power source known as innocence. She managed to collect a few and began to study them.

She couldn't have been more surprised when she found out that her purification powers were very close to a raw form of innocence.

Kagome discovered that there were two main parts to innocence. Powers almost like hers and a human soul. It seemed that someone, somewhere at sometime had powers close to her own and had sacrificed their very soul to combine it with their powers. Thus creating a physical power source one could use if one's own soul closely matched that of the originals. She would later find out that these people were the ones who had defeated the Earl 7000 years ago.

It was during her research that one of the innocences had bonded with her. It took the form of a parasitic cross on her lower abdomen.

When Kagome found out about the Earl's plans to destroy the world she was VERY hesitant the fight them. Not that she believed in what they were doing but because she didn't want to get involved in another war. She kept out of sight and watched.

110 years had passed. Kagome had been collecting information on the Earl for 50 years. Then the Noah started to appear. The Noah aren't really people, per say, they are actually souls that are able to retain their original memories when they reincarnate. These souls find a host and meld with the original soul. When a Noah is "awakened" it is when the Noah soul has completely merged with the old one. A very painful process which results in certain physical changes as well, like crosses on the forehead. When the merger is complete the Noah is then able to induce certain characteristics within their host. For example, all Noah hate humanity and therefore the host will be compelled to kill. If the main emotion of the Noah is rage, then the host will feel constant rage. The closer the host's soul is to that of the Noah's, the more influence the Noah has over him or her.

If a Noah discovers a new person with a soul closer to it's own then it's current host. It will abandon the old host and join with the new one. The body of the old host then becomes zombie like and is force to serve the new Noahs. The cross scars on the forehead change into one large pentacle. If a person dies when hosting the Noah, the Noah will leave the corpse and start looking for a new person to take over.

Each Noah also has a special power. These power are very similar to the demonic powers the demons from Kagome's world had. Each power was different. One Noah had what is called the Demon-Eye. It allowed him to read other people's minds. Another can convert his anger into electricity.

The presence of the Noah made it very hard for Kagome to collect information. It was truly a miracle she was able to gather so much in the first place. It had become too dangerous and Kagome didn't want to fight, so she left Japan and never looked back. Finally stopping her search of a way home and accepting this world as her own.

Now, she didn't just leave Japan without first insuring that the Earl couldn't destroy the world. If she did that she wouldn't have been Kagome. No, you see during her travels Kagome had found something. Something that the Earl needed to destroy first before he could then destroy the world. Kagome had found the Heart.

She had hidden it using both her priestess powers and the powers gained from her innocence. When the time came to leave, she packed up all her things and took it with her. The Earl never knew.

She had left Japan 120 years after arriving to this dimension. For the next 200 some years she traveled the world. She collected more books on magic and learnt everything she could in every language available. She even tried a taste of high class living. She had created a family name for herself and gained many family connections. Some of which she maintains to this day.

For over 200 years she had little contact with the Earl or the akuma. Not even when the Vatican had found a cube containing information on the Earl. When they started the Black Order, Kagome was happy someone besides her was fighting the war, wished them good luck and didn't think of them again.

Nope, absolutely not contact. That is until the day a small 13 year old boy came to her village with his father. This small boy`s name was Cross Marian.

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"We're stopping here for the night." Link said turning off the road into a small field.

They had been walking for two days now. If they kept at this pace there was only one more day of walking left. The first day had been hard. No one was talking and the trip was done in silence. The second day had been better. Allen had gotten over what ever had been bugging him. They walked the second day beside each other and had a great time telling each other stories.

Allen was very insistent that the order was like a family to him and that she wanted she could find family with them to. Kagome knew that he was trying to get her to accept going to the order. She appreciated his effort but he had no idea how much she had already been involved with.

They made camp with the supplies the town had given them. Kanda had carried and pitched her tent for her while she made them all dinner.

"How did you say you met General Cross?" Link asked. He tucked into his meal.

"He came to the village, saw my power and told me about the Order. I decided I didn't want to go. He left. That's it. You've asked me three times now. My story isn't going to change" Kagome said exasperated.

"I wouldn't ask so much if you would just give us some more details" Link said getting annoyed

"There isn't any more to tell." Kagome said.

That was a lie.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Cross had stumbled upon her village with his father about 20 years ago. The father was a traveling merchant. They lived in a town about a weeks ride from where she was. Once every year Cross's father would drag his son around to different towns to try and sell his merchandise, which happened to be guns. This year they just happened to be in the same town at the same time as Kagome.

Kagome could remember the exact moment she met Cross. It was kind of hard to forget a 13 year old kid asking her to boot him some rum. He promised to paint the mayor's fence for her. She bought him the liquor. He never did paint that fence.

One night, three days after they had got there, a group of first level akuma attacked. Unknown to Kagome one of the guns had a piece of innocence within it. That gun was Cross's father's pride and joy. It was named Judgment.

When the akuma attacked Kagome had been out collecting herbs for her medicine. She never knew of the attack until she returned, after it was all over.

The akuma went straight after the Cross and his father. Cross was shoved behind the rack of guns by his father. He survived the first wave of fire. His father didn't. Cross saw the whole thing. At that moment Cross's emotion spun out of control. With no worry about himself Cross picked up the closest gun and ran, screaming at the akuma. He lifted the gun and opened fire.

The innocence that was hidden within Judgement activated and Cross become an accommodator. Was it luck that the closest gun had been Judgement or something more?

Kagome arrived to see a broken boy covered in the blood of akuma clutching his father's cold hands. She hadn't been there to save them.

Feeling overwhelmingly guilty Kagome took Cross in. He stayed in his room for two full days barely eating or sleeping. On the third day he came and told her that he was going to find what had killed is father and kill them.

She never wanted to have any connection to the Black Order, but sometimes you just don't have a choice. So she talked. She told him all about the Earl and his plan to kill all humans. She told him about innocence and how the Black Order was fighting him.

She even told him about the Noah even though the Black Order had no idea about them at this time.

He left the next day. Packed up only what he needed, holstered Judgement and made his way to the Black Order headquarters.

Cross Marian was going to become an exorcist.

And that was the last time Kagome saw him.

Or so she thought.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

AN.

Hehe, now we know how Kagome and Cross met. I know a lot of people expected an adult Cross to find her, flirt with her and tell her about the order. I thought it was interesting to do it the other way around and have Kagome tell Cross.

And yes, they do have a much larger history then that but that will come later in the story. The planning for this story has been completed! All I have to do is write it now :)

Sorry for the mass of Information but I wanted people to know Kagome's motives and most of this information will be very important later on. If there is anything unclear about her history please tell me. Also please review to tell me if you liked it or if was too unbelievable.

Did anyone like young Cross? I loved writing the part about him (not) painting the fence. I got this picture in my head about Huckleberry Finn in that famous part where he is "painting" the fence. Young Cross kinda reminds me of him, but he didn't even show up to paint it.

Please Note:

Kagome is NOT all powerful. It was stated in the first chapter that while she could defend herself, her training was not complete. So don't expect her to suddenly start killing Noahs, become Kanda's sparring partner and save the world. Remember she DIDN'T even want to get involved in the war. The only reason she even bothered to find out so much about Earl was because the Earl's magic is the strongest she's seen in this world and therefore the best way back home.

This has not been edited by a beta, (as I don't have one) so please, if there are any mistakes point them out for me. Thank-you

Next time on Purity,

Sixth Book: Bad News


	6. Book VI : Bad News

Purity,

Disclaimer

AN. I was reading over the story again and I couldn't believe what I had wrote in chapter 3 ("...Everyday fighting demons. What kind of life is that?" Kagome asked them.) Hehe I just laughed at the irony.

Thanks for the reviews!

Sixth Book: Bad News

"This is a waste of time." Kanda snorted. He was leaning up against the side of the house. Arms crossed, head down, Kanda was not happy about having to stay there.

"She made a promise besides she's helping to deliver a baby, surly even that warms your empty heart BaKanda." Allen pocked at Kanda.

The group had arrived at the village just in time for the women Kagome had promised to help deliver her baby had just done into labour. She had been in the house for five hours now. Allen, Link and Kanda had waited outside with the husband until half an hour ago when Kagome told him he was needed inside.

"What did you say, Bean Sprout?" Kanda jumped from where he was helping to hold the house up. He marched straight up to Allen's face. Both their eyes were glaring. If you were to ask Link he would have told you that he could almost make out flames surrounding the two of them.

"It's Allen, looks like you head is just as empty as your heart." Allen mocked. "BaKanda." The smile on his face told of the appearance of Black Allen.

"Why you! I'm going to shave you bald. You stupid Bead Sprout." Kanda made to pull out his sword but was stilled by a voice from the opened doorway.

"Bean Sprout?" Kagome stepped out of the door and joined the three on the steps. "I'm finished. She had a beautiful baby girl." Kagome tilted her head and repeated her question. "What about a bean sprout?"

"Nothing" Allen jumped in front of her. He waved his hands in the air. "BaK- Kanda was just fooling around, Hahaha..." Allen trailed off. He reached up to scratch the back of his head.

Kagome raised an eye in disbelief. She turned to Kanda but all she got from him was, "Che, waste of time"

Kagome shot them a weird look but didn't question. She just turned around. Link pulled away from the wall. Now that Kagome's business had been taken care of they needed to get going to the Black Order. It was time for Kagome to become an exorcist.

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A young boy pushed his way through the crowded market place, weaving his way around the people, ducking under arms and even crawling through the legs of an elderly gentleman, much to his amusement. His face was dirty, his cloths caked with mud. No one gave him a second glace. With was fine for the boy, it wasn't their attention he wanted.

"Lady Kagome" He called as he pulled from the crowd.

Kagome turned away from the where she had been discussing the journey to the Black Order headquarters with Link, Allen and Kanda. Her eyes scanned the faces of the villagers but she couldn't see who had called her.

"Lady..." puff "Kagome..." There was a small tug on her shirt. Kagome looked down. Her smile widened.

"Tommy!" Kagome knelt on the ground and opened her arms to the little boy.

He didn't waste any time before jumping into them. The force threw Kagome's balance off. If Link hadn't steadied them they would have toppled over. They pulled apart. Tommy smile light his entire face. Showing off the large gap where he lost his tooth.

"Hey Tommy, why aren't you with your father?" Kagome asked as Allen helped her up.

Tommy couldn't answer, he was bouncing up a down so much his worlds came out jumbled. Kagome amused herself with trying to figure what the kid was saying for awhile but soon stopped after caching a glance of Kanda scowl.

"Tommy please calm down." Kagome grabbed the child by his shoulders and hold him still. "Take a deep breath and tell me what has gotten you so worked up?"

Tommy made a show of taken the deepest breath he could. His chest pushed out to the max, his nose to the air. Before chocking and coughing it all out. He gave an embarrassed smile before standing tall, all business now.

"Daddy told me go and get you. He said that they were here." Tommy said.

"They're here?" Kagome asked. She started to walk down the road. Tommy bounced behind her.

"Yup!" he said and grabbed her hand. He started swinging it as they continued down the street.

"Whose here?" Allen asked from behind her. The whole group was following.

Kagome turned her head and looked at the three of them from over her shoulder.

"The people that are going to make this trip, Not a waste of time." She smirked at Kanda. Turned around and continues down the road with Tommy.

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"Rick! Good to see you again." Kagome called up to the man shovelling hay down from the loft.

"Well if it isn't Lady Kagome?' He tosses his pitch fork into the mound of hay and jumps down, landing steadily on his feet. "Tommy must of ran really fast to get you here so soon." He said with a teasing smile towards his son. Tommy just beamed in pride.

"He sure did, couldn't even breath when he got to me and when he finally caught his breath he was speaking so fast I couldn't understand a word." Kagome laughed. Rick joined in.

"Hey!" Tommy pouted. He crossed him arms.

Rick ruffled Tommy's hair. "Just teasing you. Hey why don't you lead Lady Kagome round back? The guys are just getting the horses settled." Rick nods his head towards the barn.

"OK" Tommy cheered up. He grabbed Kagome's arm and started to drag her around back. Kagome just followed him with a small wave goodbye to Rick. Allen, Link and Kanda went with them.

"Hello?" Kagome called into the barn. She and the rest of the group stood at the entrance.

"Lady Kagome!" was heard in answer to her call. Three heads popped out from behind the low walls that separated the horse stalls. Allen recognized all three of them from the restaurant in the last town, George, Jack and the slick guy who he never got the name of. They came out and stood side-by-side in front of Kagome.

"Hey boys, let me introduce you all." She said them gave out the introductions, pointing to each of them in turn. "This is Allen, and Link and the one with a scowl on his face in the back is Kanda. And you already know Tommy!"

"Hey!" Tommy greeted.

The oldest of the group took a step forward. "Nice to meet you again, thanks for saving the town" He said with a small bow. The other two gave one as well.

Allen bowed back "Just doing our job." Kanda rolled his eyes.

Kagome then pointed at the man who had just thanked them. "This here is George. He runs the masonry in the town. Don't let his age fool you he's as hard working as they come."

"Hard headed too" was whispered by one of the other two. Kagome choose to ignore it.

"This is Jack. He's George's apprentice." The youngest of the group gave another bow.

She then turned to the last guy in the row and gave a small theatrical sigh. "And here's a guy who really needs no introduction"

"You know you love me" He said stepping closer to Kagome. She took a step back and raised her hand in preparation to slap him if he tried anything funny.

"This is Frank. Just be happy you're men. Frank has yet to learn the meaning of personal space." Kagome gave another sigh before clapping her hands together. She turned to the new comers.

"Did you get it?" she asked.

"Ya" Jack came forward. "We each delivered the letters like you asked to the mayor of each town. They all did what you had asked. We got all three of them. Here's one." He pulls out a small box covered in symbols from his coat pocket. George and Frank pull out almost identical ones from their own pocket.

"Wonderful" Kagome breathes and reaches to take the box from Jack. She holds it close just looking at it for awhile. Allen can't contain his curiosity.

"What's in the boxes" He asks.

Kagome turns and looks at him, a sly smile on her face.

"Take a look" she said and opened the box.

Allen steps closer and he can't believe his eyes.

"Innocence!" He yells and takes the box from Kagome.

"What?" Link and Kanda yell. They come closer to Allen all three surrounding the box. Allen was right. Within the box laid an innocence. The three of them looked back up at Kagome.

"Told you it would be worth it" she smirked at them.

"But how?" Link asked.

"When Cross had asked me to join the Order I had told him no but when I traveled to different towns I started to take notice of any strange happenings, rumours and the like. Most were nothing but a couple times it was innocence. It was quite easy to find them to be honest. When word of my healing power started to spread town's people would start coming to me with strange tales. When ever found one I would help the town mayor place sealing symbols on the boxes so nothing odd would happen. Not sure if it helped though." Kagome explained.

Allen smiled. "Looks like this stop was definitely worth it."

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Allen paused a moment to collect himself before moving to join Kagome on the stairs. She gave him a quick smile before turning back to look at the stars. Allen just sat there trying to gather his courage. He hated being the barrier of bad news. He took a deep breath.

"So..." He trailed off. Kagome turned to face him. Clearing him throat he tried again.

"How well did you know my master" he asked

Kagome looked confused. "Your master?"

"General Cross, I was his apprentice." Allen cleared up her question.

"Well enough, he defiantly... made an impression to say the least. I guess I'll meet him again at headquarters right?" She turned around fully and looked straight at Allen.

Allen started to feel faint. He took another deep breath.

"No you won't"

"Huh?" Kagome asked

"He was murdered a little while ago. He had made a lot of the higher ups angry so we suspected they ordered him to be... be..." Allen stopped unable to continue.

Kagome was staring at Allen. Her face was pale as the blood left it. They stayed like that for a long time. Kagome looking at Allen trying to find a hint of a lie and Allen staring just to the left of Kagome's head not daring to look at her after telling her that a friend had died.

After a long time Kagome turned around, her movements stiff. She looked up at the stars for a second before turning her head back to Allen.

"Are you ok?" She asked much to Allen's surprise

"Me? What about you?" Allen exclaimed

"I only knew him for such a small time but he was your master. How do you feel?" Kagome asked. Her voice had a barely noticeable shake to it.

"I don't think anyone has asked me that." He whispered.

"No one has asked you how you feel about finding out your master was killed?" Kagome was shocked.

"No," Allen felt something wet on his face. He reached a hand up to his cheek and pulled it away. He was surprised to find that he was crying. In his amazement he started to talk.

"He wasn't the best master, never really taught me anything. I was mostly there to pay off the debts he had collected but..." Allen shook his head trying to collect his thoughts in a reasonable manner.

"I just can't believe he's dead. He was so unbeatable, so strong and for it to be from the people he worked for. It scares me." Allen confessed finally looking into Kagome's eyes. "He was my master I was with him for three years, he saved me after what had happened with Mana." He stopped unable to continue.

Kagome reached out and took his hand into hers. She didn't say anything just sat there with Allen. Her company was enough at the moment.

Half an hour of peaceful silence pasted before Allen stood up having collected himself from him small display. "We're leaving first thing tomorrow, we should get some rest.' He helped pull Kagome to her feet.

"Good idea, I'll see you in the morning." Kagome said. She gave his hand one last squeeze before releasing it. They stood there for one long second before making their way inside the hotel and into their separate rooms.

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As soon as Kagome locked her door she turned and collapsed on it. She slid to the ground and sat unmoving. It had taken all of Kagome's will power not to start crying as soon as Allen had told her of Cross' death.

She could not believe it. Cross, the little boy she had met had been so full of life. He was so determined when he went off to become an exorcist. He told her he was going to be the best there was.

And he did. He had become the youngest general they had ever had, at the age of 23.

10 years after he had left for the Order he had come back to her, a general. Kagome was so shocked to see him standing on her doorstep. He had turned into a very handsome man and a great fighter.

Kagome sobbed. She lifted her hands to her face trying to muffle the sound. Tears ran down her face unchecked. He couldn't be dead, not him.

He had called her Mom. Kagome only knew him for less than a week and then they haven't seen each other for ten years but he had called her Mom. Sure, he had said it as a joke at first but as he started to stay there between missions it began to be true.

Kagome pulled herself up and began the motions of getting ready for bed. Her mind was elsewhere remembering all the time Cross would come visit her. To tell her about his travels, the people (women) he meet or for some information within the books she had. He was the only one Kagome trusted about her past. The only one that knew she was from another world.

And He was dead.

She would never see him again.

Kagome cried herself to sleep.

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The table was set. Dishes of the highest quality were sitting on the table ready to be served to the occupants seated around in the chairs. Food, however, was not on their mind.

"What?" Tyki Mikk asked. His jaw was hanging open. It was quite the sight to see this upstanding man with food falling from his fork.

"What do you mean Cross is dead?" He asked again.

The Earl looked at the man, a dreadful grin upon his face.

"Just that, seems Cross made some enemies beside us. Someone from his own Order had killed him" the Earl laughed. "We no longer have to worry about him messing up anymore of my plans." He bit his napkin to try to hold back his complete glee over what had happened.

Tyki was still in shock. So was the rest of the family. For once the twins Jasdevi were quite. The silence grew until Road broke it with a single whispered sentence.

"Poor Allen"

Tyki turned to the Earl who at this point had calmed down. "What do we do now?" He asked.

"What we had planned to do. The egg still needs to be completed and soon your brothers and sisters will awaken and our family will be complete again." The Earl shook with delight.

"What about the fourteenth? What about Allen?" Road asked

It wasn't very hard to realize that Allen had the memories of the fourteenth Noah. After the Ark incident they knew it was only a matter of time before Allen awakened and become one of them.

"Let us wait and see." The Earl glasses flashed. "I'm curious to find out how the order will react now that we know that they're willing to kill one of their own." He started to laugh again.

Road bit her lip and stayed uncharacteristically silent though out the rest of the meal.

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AN.

SORRY! If you didn't understand the part about Cross, it happens in the manga, after the anime.

I hope I didn't upset anyone who wanted a bit of Cross action, in my defence this is Cannon!

About Allen crying, I figured since he has always complained about Cross no one really figured he was really upset not to mention all of the other stuff happening around Allen with the Noah. I don't think anyone has asked him about how he feels about Cross's death. So I had Kagome do it. Hope it was simi-touching. I'm new at this writing stuff.

Anyways,

Looking back on this story I was surprised on how many OCs I had made. True, none of them have large parts in the story and will most likely never be seen again, but really 7 people: Lena, The Mayor, George, Jack, Frank, Tommy and Rick. I have more Ocs then characters from the manga! I hope no one minds.

Lets have some fun! The first person to guess correctly the power of Kagome's innocence gets... something. Every chapter I will leave a clue. If not in the story, then I'll give one in the AN.

So far we know: It is parasitic, is located above her scar and she's had it for over 200 years

New clue: It does not transform into a separate item. i.e. Bow and arrows

Question! Is this story going too slow? It has been six chapters and we are not even at the Order yet. I know I put in a lot of little parts about Kagome reacting to my Ocs. Does that add to Kagome's character or would you rather me get on with only the important parts. Personally I'm all for character interaction but it would be nice to know if you are getting a bit inpatient with the pace of the story.

This has not been edited by a beta, (as I don't have one) so please, if there are any mistakes point them out for me. Thank-you

Next time on Purity,

Seventh Book: Black Order


	7. Book VII: Black Order

Purity,

Disclaimer:

AN. Thanks for the reviews! I have a small question. Does anyone want replies to their reviews? The "Thank-you for reviewing" is really implied and most of the questions I get are of the "just wait and see" variety. So if you do want me to reply directly just leave a say so in the review. Thank-you. (I hope that wasn't rude, I just usually never get replies for reviews I write and was wondering if anyone wanted one)

Seventh Book: Black Order

"Suicide?" Komui chocked.

"You think General Cross Martian killed himself?" He stressed the word killed.

Komui could not believe what Rouvelier had just suggested. They were sitting in Komui`s new office in the Order headquarters. Komui was lucky to have been sitting down at his desk because he would have fallen over from Rouvelier`s words.

"How else do you explain what happened? No one who was near the room would have killed him. Walker's eye would have reacted to an akuma and no Noah would have left his innocence in tacked. It was either suicide or..." Rouvelier trailed off as he took a small bite of cake.

Rouvelier was sitting on the couch across from Komui`s desk. Just minutes before he had shown up at Komui`s door with a new cake and invited himself in. His offer of cake did nothing to disperse the tension in the room. However, suggestion that Cross had killed himself made all thoughts of the awkwardness fly out of Komui`s head.

"Someone higher up ordered his death." Komui finished the sentence. He leaned back on his chair with a sigh.

"And I was not informed"

Silence took over the room. Both of them just sat there eating their cake mechanically as they thought over what that might mean. The fact that Cross was dead was a huge shock. Cross was the strongest exorcist the Order had ever had and Komui feared what would happen to the Order now. The fact that Rouvelier was not informed of anything was another big shock, one that scared Komui as well.

Komui knew Rouvelier. He knew what ticked him off, knew what to expect and what to watch for. True, Komui hated him for what he has done to his sister and all of the exorcists but at least he could predict what could happen. If someone was able and willing to go around Rouvelier and directly affect the Order... It was a horrible revelation.

"Maybe he faked his death. He's always trying to escape headquarters and his body was never found." Komui offered another explanation, trying to banish his recent thoughts.

"With that much blood? And he wouldn't have left his gun" Rouvelier shot down that suggestion fast.

It was a foolish suggestion. Cross would have never left his gun. It was the only thing he had from before he came to the Order as a 13 year old. The only hint of his past as Cross never talked about where he came from, how he got his innocence or even how he knew of the Order. In fact, no one in the Order knew anything about Cross besides what he did within the Order. Even that wasn't much since he almost never reported in.

The silence between the two men was almost tangible. The tension was overwhelming Komui, he had to say something.

"What do you think about the new exorcist that Allen and Kanda found?" Komui asked.

As soon as those words left his lips Komui regretted them. He did not want to talk about any exorcists with Rouvelier. Everyone knew what he thought of God's chosen people.

"A healer would be a great addition to the team. With her powers we no longer have to wait so long for the exorcists to recover between missions. She can't fight though so she is worthless on the battlefield."

Komui really didn't expect anything better from the man.

When Allen had phoned him and told him that they had found a new exorcist, Komui had been ecstatic. The Order was always desperate for more help. When her powers were revelled Komui truly thought that God had granted his prayers. The ability to heal the wounds and save the lives of the exorcists they have now was worth so much more than an offensive ability. No matter what Rouvelier thought.

"She was also reluctant to join the Order. You will have to keep a close eye on her as she could try to run. If she does then you may have to tie her to her bed, but you already know this. Don't you Komui?" Rouvelier continued. He eyed Komui as he said the last part, a hard look in his eye.

Has anyone told you how much Komui hates Rouvelier?

Komui gave no outward sign of his current feelings, just nodded and chewed his cake with perhaps a little more force than usual. After he swallowed his food he attempted to defend the woman he had never meet.

"She did give us three more pieces of innocence. Four pieces in one mission is truly amazing."

"She found three pieces and hid them instead of giving them to the Order as she should of. It was only when she no longer had a choice that she gave them up." Rouvelier spat.

"Does she think it would make me over look the fact that she knew what her duty was and refused it for years? She said she had met Cross, how well does this Kagome know him, should she even be trusted?" Rouvelier asked. Fuming over what he saw as a betrayal to the church.

Komui was saved from asking the question as someone had just knocked on his door. They both turned towards it as a second knock was heard. Rouvelier had calmed down when Komui told whoever it was to come in.

Reever opened the door and pocked his head into the room. His sharp eyes quickly made out the tension between the two so he wasted no time with pleasantries.

"They have arrived. Kanda, Allen, Link and the new exorcist Kagome have just came through the ark. They are waiting for you in the portal room."

Rouvelier and Komui quickly stood up and followed Reever to the first floor. All three were eager to meet the newest member of the Black Order.

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"Well that wasn't the weirdest thing I've ever seen." Kagome thought as they exited the ark.

Allen had explained to her what the ark was and what it did before they entered it. However, there was something to be said between hearing about it and witnessing it for one's self. She had expected an experience like the one she had when she traveled through time. Seeing a white town was a bit of a shock.

'More useful though' Kagome thought as she looked around at her new home. 'Having multiple entrances must really save them travel money.'

She turned to look for her escorts. Kanda had left as soon as they had arrived without saying a word. Allen was over to the side talking to a man with large round glasses. He was wearing a white coat and had bulky headphones on. What caught Kagome's attention most was that he was holding Timcampy out to Allen. Kagome made her way over to them, excited that Timcampy wasn't destroyed along with Cross.

"We're all finished. Timcampy now has all the latest gear the Science department has created to help you on your missions" The man said as Timcampy flew out of his hands and fluttered around Allen's head.

"Thanks Johnny!" Allen said before he saw Kagome walking towards him.

"Johnny this is Kagome, she's the new exorcist we met. Kagome this is Johnny from the science department." Allen introduced them.

Johnny held out his hand for her which Kagome shook. "Pleasure to meet you" She said.

"Na, the pleasures all mine" Johnny replied with a small blush on his face.

Kagome was just about to ask what the science department did when Timcampy flew straight at her a started to nuzzle her neck. Kagome burst out laughing as she was quite ticklish there. Once she had calmed down she notice that those around her were looking very confused.

"Looks like Timcampy remembers me." She said as a way to explain.

"That's right" Allen realized. "You've meet master so it makes sense that you have meet Timcampy before."

Kagome nodded and she reached to give Timcampy back to Allen. He took him and set him on his head. Timcampy stayed there but looked to be shaking in excitement over seeing both her and Allen again.

The sudden lack of noise alerted Kagome to the entrance of three more people. She turned to look and was abruptly met with a hateful stare from a well kept man whose presence demanded obedience. Shaking the look off easily, she looked at the other two.

One had on his head a strange looking hat. 'A beanie?' Kagome wondered. He was also sporting the widest smile Kagome had ever seen. He reminded Kagome of Shippo a bit, which on a fully grown male was slightly scary.

The last one was the youngest of the three. He was wearing the same coat as Johnny so he was probably from the science department. His spiked blond hair and cool manner made for a nice juxtaposition with the one wearing the hat.

Link, who had been standing by the ark rushed over to the three. He shared a short conversation with the mean looking one before leading all three over to where she and Allen were standing.

"Lady Kagome, let me give the introduction." Link said.

"This is section leader Reever Wenham." Kagome shook hands with the attractive Australian. Link continued.

"And this is the supervisor of the Black Order, Komui Lee." The man wearing the strange hat gave her a small bow that she returned. She then turned to look at the man who hasn't stopped glaring at her. Link stood up a little straighter as he made this introduction.

"This is inspector Malcolm C. Rouvelier" Kagome held out her hand but he made no move to shake it. He just looked down his nose trying to intimidate her. Kagome was not impressed. She was old enough to be his great grandmother many times over, she had seen much worst.

Right before it got truly awkward Komui grabbed her hand in both of his and shook it hard enough to rattle her whole body.

"We are most pleased to have you as a part of this family." He said, still shaking her hand. "I'm looking forward to see what you can do." He was still shaking her hand.

"Ah, Thank you" Kagome replied pulling her hand away from his and held it to her chest in case he tried to take it again. "I'm honored to meet you."

Komui slapped his hands to his face and made a cooing sound. "Honoured she says." He then clapped his hands and started towards the doorway. "Follow me. I'll get you acquainted with all that happens here in the Order."

Kagome looked over her shoulder at Allen. He just nodded his head and waved her on. His smile though did nothing to alleviate he fears.

"Come along, we`ll have you inducted in the Order in no time." Komui called back at her as he bounced off through the door way.

You know, as much as Rouvelier glared at her, it was the look in Komui`s eyes that truly scared her.

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As far as inductions go, this one was by far the most memorable. Kagome had just been "introduced' to Hevlaska. By introduced she means she was suddenly grabbed and lifted in the air to come face to face with the glowing exorcist. Kagome was thrilled to meet her, and as her priestess powers didn't flare she just let herself relax into the examination.

Komui must have mistaken Kagome's excitement over seeing Hevlaska as fear because he apologized for not warning her beforehand. The apology would have been a lot more sincere without the wild smile on his face.

The results of the examination were a surprise to everyone, including Kagome. The 99% synchro-ratio was higher than she had expected. It did make sense though. She has had it for over 200 years and she since she never put any effort into fighting the Earl it never reached critical rate.

Kagome was lucky that Hevlaska was unable to sense her priestess powers or if she did just assumed that it was a part of her innocence.

"Thank-you for finding the innocence" Hevlaska said as they started to rise in the platform. Rouvelier's face grew darker at those words. Kagome just ignored him and told Hevlaska it was her pleasure.

When they had reached the top Rouvelier demanded that she tell them everything she knew about the Order, the innocence and her relationship with Cross. Kagome agreed not wanting to make this man hate her even more as nothing she did made him hate her less.

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Lenalee was overjoyed when she saw Allen in the cafeteria. Well she couldn't really see him but the pile of dishes in front of a seat was very telling. Lenalee was even more delighted over the news Allen had. A new exorcist was here at the Order. A female exorcist!

"Oi, Allen!" Lavi had just joined them. "What is this I heard about a new girl in the Order?" Lavi made to grab a plate a noodles from Allen but was warded off by sharp looking knife. Allen swallowed what was in his mouth before answering him.

"Kanda and I were given a mission to find an accommodator and to bring her back to the Order. Her name is Kagome. She's Japanese, 23 and very nice." Allen said. He reached for the noodles Lavi was still eyeing and started to inhale them.

Lenalee jumped up grabbing Allen's arm and pulling him up with her. He made a sound is distress from the rough treatment. Lavi stood up as well.

Let's go see her." Lenalee said bouncing up and down. "Come on!" She pulled Allen out of the hall with her. His protest that he was still hungry was heard as they left the room along with Lavi's laughter.

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It didn't take them long to reach the Office of Komui. (Yes the room is referred to that way, it adds to the horror they all knew might lay behind the door. Komui's office just sounds too normal anyways.)

Allen was just about to knock on the door when it swung open and out stepped Kagome.

"Strike!"

Kagome looked up, startled by Lavi's loud yell. Lavi didn't notice. He was too busy getting lost in her beautiful eyes, her raven hair and womanly curves.

Or something like that. Allen wasn't much of a romantic. He decided he should start the introductions before Lavi said anything else.

"Hello Kagome, these are two of my friends and follow exorcists. This is Lenalee."

Lenalee stepped up and shook Kagome's hand. The both of them had huge smiles on their faces.

"I'm so happy to meet you. Welcome to the family!" Lenalee said

"Thank-you, I'm happy to be here. It is so good to see another girl. The testosterone was starting to stifle my feminine power." Kagome giggled

"I know!" Lenalee agreed. They started to laugh.

Lavi thought this may be a good time to interrupt.

"I'm Bookman Junior but you can call me Lavi." He jumped in.

Lavi held out his hand. Kagome paused mid-laugh

"You're Bookman Junior?" She asked slowly taking Lavi's hand. "Is Bookman Senior also working with the exorcists?"

Lavi nodded "Ya, that old pandas around here somewhere." He, along with Allen and Lenalee looked up and down the hall to see if the mentioned man was coming towards them.

If anyone had been looking at Kagome they would have seen her face pale at Lavi's words.

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AN.

Here's another Chapter!

Not only that but I've also written a small one-shot called "Out with a Bang" Check it out and review.

I hope I kept the characters in, well, character. Please review to tell me how I did.

What's up with Bookman? You'll have to wait till next week.

New clue: When Kagome activates her innocence there is no **Physical** changes that can be **Seen**.

Just a bit about what I think about Rouvelier...

I believe that Rouvelier is such an ass hole is a mental defence action built from overwhelming guilt.

Ok let me explain the above statement.

The Rouvelier family got their power from sacrificing the females of the family to experiments run by the church. Rouvelier is older so he might have had a sister or even a daughter sacrificed by those he has sworn his life to. If he was to believe that the exorcists were anything other than sacrificial lambs chosen by God, what would that mean for those that he has already lost? There is a scene in the anime were a young Rouvelier is calling Hevlaska a murder. His thoughts have changed over time and as I said I believe it is a defence to the guilt he must have felt.

My attempt to give an Asshole a believable motive for his Ass Holiness, did it work?

(ps. Ass Holiness is such a fitting phrase for a man working for the church, It makes me laugh every time I read it.)

This has not been edited by a beta, (as I don't have one) so please, if there are any mistakes or plot holes point them out for me. Thank-you

Next time on Purity:

Eighth Book: New Faces


	8. Book VIII: New Faces

Purity,

Disclaimer:

AN. Thanks for the reviews and guesses to what Kagome's innocence might be. No one's close so far.

Eighth Book: New Faces

Kagome turned the key to open the door to her room at Order headquarters. When a click was heard she turned to wave good-bye to Lenalee, Allen, Lavi and Link. With the promise to meet with them for lunch, Kagome opened the door and stepped into her room.

It was larger than she had expected. It was done in soft greens with light brown accents. The door opened in the bottom left corner of the room. The queen sized bed with dark green bedding lay directly in front of the door. There was a desk and a wardrobe to the right and the door to the bathroom was located in the far right side of the room. The walls were bare, the desk empty.

Kagome sighed as she sat on her new bed. Her bags were thrown carelessly to her right. Leaning back against the wall Kagome rested her eyes for a few minutes. She looked up to study her room, noticing that her windows faced the river running beside the headquarters. Her eyes traveled around the room until they fell on the uniform lying on her pillow.

During to tour her new friends had taken her on, the young scientist Johnny had taken her measurements and had asked for her opinion concerning her new Black Order uniform. The finished product looked similar to Allen's but without the hood. Instead a decorative collar formed its neck. The sleeves were different as well. Baggier, representative of the style worn the feudal era of her home world. The coat was longer too, brushing the floor as she walked if not for the slight flare. She was also given skin tight legging to wear under the coat and knee high boots to walk in. It was a beautiful piece of clothing.

Slowly she stood up and started to undress so she could put on her uniform. Each piece was carefully added to her body, each piece smooth down so no wrinkles could appear. Finally she was dressed. She opened her bag and got out two hair sticks and moved to the mirror in the bathroom.

As she worked her hair into a messy bun Kagome stared at herself. Here she was, an exorcist of the Black Order. A position she never wanted to be in, and one she never imagined herself being in without Cross.

It had hurt pretending not to know him when talking to the other members of the Order. The story she had to make up had been fun to tell. Telling stories on how they met and how the bar tender of the town got the habit of glaring at every red head that walked into her bar. Even though, it had been hard.

Deciding to not waste any more time on depressing thoughts Kagome got to work organizing her room.

She began putting away her cloths in the wardrobe. Done with that she hung a framed painting of a small red fox that she had saw one day in a market and had to buy. It reminded her so much of those she loved.

It took ten minutes for everything to be in its place. Looking at the clock Kagome saw that she still had an hour before lunch so she decided to go explore by herself. Grabbing her key off the desk, Kagome bounced out the door and closed it with a click.

Raising her head to see what direction she would take, Kagome stopped short as her eyes landing on a small man leaning against the wall across from her room.

She had never met the man before but she knew who he was, a member of the Bookman clan.

They stayed looking at each other in silence for a time. Then he motioned her to follow him and quietly led her outside to a beautiful garden. They walked to a small bridge that over looked a fish pond and leaned over the side. Bookman was the first to speak.

"I was surprised to hear that you had joined the Order. Last I heard you were still maintaining your silence." He said glancing at her to catch her reaction.

"As surprised as myself when I heard that a Bookman had joined a side of the war?" She answered with a question of her own.

"It was necessary" was all the answer he gave.

Kagome continued to address the last part of Bookman's statement.

"I've only maintain a silence towards the Black Order. I've helped your clan many times though out my years. My knowledge on the paranormal in return for your information and the clan's word that they would keep my true age a secret" Kagome glanced at Bookman.

"Bookmen do not keep the practice of reviling someone's history and definitely not if one is an ally of the clan's" Bookman almost looked insulted.

"Sorry" Kagome apologized. The tension she had unknowingly been carrying faded away. It was foolish of her to have even thought that he would tell her secrets.

They stayed in a formal silence for a time. As Bookman turned to leave Kagome asked,

"Your apprentice did not know of me." Kagome stated, wanting an answer.

"He is not yet a full Bookman. He has a lot to learn." Bookman turned to her. "It was a pleasure to finally meet you" He gave a bow.

Kagome smiled and bowed in return. She watched as the short man made his way back inside the Order, heading towards the library no doubt.

She turned back to the pond. It was such a nice day out, maybe she would stay a little longer and enjoy the gardens.

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"Allen!"

Allen turned around to see Lenalee and Miranda walking down the halls towards him. Allen smiled and waved at the girls, stopping so they could catch up.

Miranda had been on a mission with Krory and Noise in Siberia helping out with a large akuma gathering in a town there. They must have just gotten back as Allen could still see a blue tint to Miranda's lips.

"Mirada and the rest just got back. I was just telling her about Kagome." Lenalee informed Allen.

Well that confirmed his thoughts.

"Yes, we were just heading to her room so we could ask her to join us for lunch" Mirada said. Allen brightened.

"I was just heading there myself, it's almost lunch time" as if on cue Allen's stomach made its self known to the amusement of the two girls and Allen's embarrassment. Timcampy flew to rest on Lenalee's head just in case. Allen scowled at the golem.

"Well, should we get going?" Lenalee words were muffled from her hand as she tried to stop laughing.

"Ok" Allen turn and lead them down the hall a short ways. He stopped suddenly at an intersection and stood there looking back and forth between all the hallways.

"Allen?" Lenalee asked

Allen turned towards her with a sheepish smile on his face. His hand rose to scratch at the back of his head.

"Ummm, which way is her room again"

In the back Link had to shut his eyes so not to give into the temptation of rolling them. The girls had not such restraint and started to giggle again.

"This way" Lenalee grabbed his right arm and turned left, taking the lead.

"Let's make a quick stop at Jerry's and tell him about the welcome party for Kagome" Lenalee stopped and entered the cafeteria.

Allen readily agreed. He still remembered that Kagome hadn't wanted to come and really wanted her to feel like this was her new home.

"Sounds like a plan"

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Allen stood in front of Kagome's door surrounded by his friends. On the way to Kagome's room they had managed to pick up Lavi and Krory as well. All of them were currently staring at the wooden door.

"Knock again" Lavi told Allen "Maybe she didn't hear it"

Everyone turned and raised an eyebrow at the young bookman. He just shrugged and waved off the stares so Allen turned around and knocked again... for the fifth time. They all waited and then, nothing.

"I don't think she's in her room" Miranda said finally stating what everyone seemed so keen on ignoring.

Everyone just stood there in silence, staring at the door. Link made a small note in his book.

"I think your right Miranda" Lenalee absentmindedly nodded her head.

Lavi was also nodding when a movement down the hall caught his eye.

"Oi, Panda!"

*Smack*

"Owww" Lavi groaned as he pulled his head out on the newly made hole in the wall.

Bookman had been walking down the hall towards the group when Lavi called out to him, to which he oh so lovingly responded.

Krory jumped into the conversation before Lavi could place his shoe size between his jaws again.

"We are looking for Lady Kagome, have you seen her" Krory asked.

"Yes, she is in the gardens" Bookman answer his friend and continued on his way towards the library.

The rest of the group immediately started down the hall Bookman had just come from. Lavi who had recovered from Bookman's greeting was in the front of the group and therefore the first to spot the elusive women they were searching for.

"Kagome" Lavi shouted bringing everyone's attention to the raven haired girl. "You want to have lunch with us, you did promise"

Kagome gave a small jump when she heard her name and spun around to meet with the group. A relived smile fell upon her face. She had been trying to get back to her room so she could meet with the group but couldn't remember the path Bookman had taken.

"Hello, I was just trying to find you all, but I got a little lost" Kagome answered Lavi's rambunctious greeting

"Don't worry I'll find your way around here soon enough, just don't ask Allen to show you around." Lavi nudged Allen's side with his elbow. Allen moved to elbow him hard back but Lavi danced out of the way and over to Kagome. He pointed at Krory.

"This is Arystar Krory the Third, we call him Krory he's a parasite exorcist just like you and Allen, and this" He jumped over to Miranda where she had been hiding in the back and pulled her to the front. "Is Miranda Lotto, another exorcist" Lavi beamed.

"Umm Hello" Miranda gave a timid response.

"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you" Krory said with a small bow.

"And you as well" Kagome responded with a bow of her own

Lavi opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a loud growl. Kagome was startled by the sound but she was the only one. The rest of the group, excluding Link and Allen, got wide smiles on their faces and looked as though they were trying not to laugh. Allen had turned red in embarrassment and Link just made another small note in his book.

"Looks like Allen's hungry so let's head over to cafeteria" Lenalee spoke up and took the lead.

Kagome was still a bit startled that the noise came from Allen's stomach and hung back to walk beside him. Timcampy, who at one point had made his way back to Allen, rose from his head to settle on Kagome's. He tried to pull out Kagome's hair sticks but Kagome quickly swatted him away. Timcampy decided to leave them alone and settle back down on Kagome's head.

"Looks like Timcampy likes it when your hair is down" Allen observed.

"Yes unfortunately, Allen when you were talking to Johnny he said that the science department made some improvements, what were they?" Kagome asked

Allen looked really excited to answer.

"You know how golems can act like a radio over short distances?" Allen asked Kagome. At her nod he continued his explanation. "Now, not only will you be able to hear the person talking to you but you can see them as well via holographic projections."

Kagome was amazed, she could not get over how advanced this world seem to her own. Sure the lack of cars told of the differences in time but holographic projections? Kagome inwardly shook her head.

"Not only that but they extended the distance you can communicate over" Allen said "Now we received calls all the way from France without having to hook up to a phone line"

This time Kagome couldn't stop from outwardly shaking her head. "That's amazing"

"Hey you two hurry up" Lavi called from the archway into the cafeteria.

"Coming" Kagome and Allen rushed to catch up with the rest of the group who had already been served their food.

"Hey there sweet heart, I'm Jerry the cook, I'll serve you whatever your heart's desire just let Jerry know, K?" Jerry leaned over the counter to peer at the newest addition to the family. "My, you're a pretty little thing aren't cha?" Jerry asked the blushing woman.

"Thank you" Kagome said still blushing. "Could I have some oden?"

"Sure thing" exclaimed Jerry "I'll have it in just one moment"

He turned to Allen "And what can I get you today?"

Allen started listing off a bunch of different food. As the list drew larger so did Kagome`s disbelief. It looked like Allen`s three large helping at the Mayor`s house was him holding back. Kagome turned to look at Lavi but he didn`t look like this was strange so Kagome settled down and continued to listen to Allen`s list of food.

She had to be careful. It would only be too easy to fall in with these people, to become close friends and even become family. She had to make sure that she kept her distance from them. They were mortal and one day they would leave her, just like her friends and family from her old world.

Just like Cross.

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Kagome quietly and quickly made her way through the halls of the Order, trying to sneak away unnoticed.

Her welcome party was still in full swing back in the cafeteria. It had been such a lovely surprise and the pride on Allen's face as he welcomed her home had placed a permanent smile on her face. The food, drinks and atmosphere placed everyone in a much needed good cheer. Kagome had a lot of fun being dragged around by Allen and his friends, being introduced to everyone she had missed that morning.

It had been really enjoyable but Kagome had started to feel guilty about being so welcomed when she did not want to be there, so she had made her escape.

She was trying to remember the way the gardens Bookman had take her to earlier when Timcampy flew around the corner and almost knocked Kagome off her feet. Kagome grabbed the winged golem from the air and hugged him against her chest. She was happy that she could truly embrace the little guy without any one getting suspicious about their closeness. The embrace had lasted for a long time but Kagome still mourned it when Timcampy wiggled from her clutch and started to zoom about her head.

Kagome laughed

"I missed you" She said. Timcampy landed on her head for a moment as if to say that he missed her too before grasping one of her sleeves and started to pull on it.

"Do you want me to follow you?" Kagome asked

Timcampy flew in front of her face and nodded his whole body, then zoomed back around the corner.

"Hey wait up" Kagome called after him.

She raced down the hall after the shiny winged ball. Her hair began to fall out of her bun, brushing the small of her back. The length of her uniform flew out behind her showing off her long legs covered in her black leggings.

When Timcampy finally stopped, Kagome realized that they had made their way to the garden she had been searching for. Her eyes lit up in surprise at the beauty of the landscape at night.

"How did you know I wanted to come here?" Kagome asked Timcampy.

He didn't respond of course just continued to dance around her. Kagome laughed again and held her palms out for Timcampy to rest on them. He didn't rest though and continued his rapid dance. Flying in dizzying motions and strange patterns. Kagome started to get worried. She had never seen Timcampy act like this before.

"Is there something wrong?" Kagome asked, her hands still out for Timcampy.

Timcampy shook himself and finally settled on her hands. There was a beat of stillness before Timcampy started to vibrate. Kagome was so startled she almost dropped the poor thing.

"What's happening?" She asked the air again, her eyes never leaving the golem.

Timcampy just shook harder and harder. A buzzing noise started to be heard. Kagome was just about to call for help before it all stopped. Kagome looked down to her hands again and saw Timcampy facing the sky with his mouth wide open. A faint holographic image started to appear above his head. Kagome`s eyes widen in realization.

"This must be the upgrades Allen was telling me about. I hope the science department is still working on it because that took a long time." Kagome relaxed, happy that nothing was wrong.

"Hold on, who could be trying to contact me? No one knows I'm out here..." Kagome trailed off.

Her eyes grew huge as she started to make out the figure in the hologram. She could not believe her eyes.

"Hello Mum, long time no see"

The Red head in the hologram smirked at her and raised his wine filled glass in a toast.

"Cross" she whispered

Kagome took a breath, trying to gain enough oxygen so she wouldn't pass out.

"You're alive?"

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AN.

*smile*

Did you really think I was going to keep Cross dead? Truthfully, I did try. I had this story all planned out but after writing Sixth Book: Bad News I tried to find a way to write the story and keep Cross dead. (I know, bad me) But it didn't work as most of the plot will happen in the conversations Kagome and Cross have over the Timcampy-line. The only way I could have Cross stay dead was to bring in a plot element early which I didn't want to do. So Cross is alive. (I guess I could have tried harder but I Loved Cross too much)

One last note: I think I messed up on Kagome's and Cross's relationship. They are **not** mother and son by blood or any other mean! They just have a very close relationship and Cross calls her Mum, half because he respects her and half just to bug her.

Question: Can anyone guess how Cross survived. I'll be surprised if anyone gets it right.

In case you didn't understand. This Bookman and Kagome have never met. However, the Bookman **clan** and Kagome know of each other and have helped one another in the past, Kagome with her knowledge of the paranormal and the Bookman with historic events. Also the Bookmen only know that Kagome is very old. They do not know that she is from a different world, only Cross knows that.

New clue: Her innocence power is **neither** offensive nor defensive.

Next time on Purity:

Ninth Book: Arouse by any other Name,


	9. Book IX: Arouse by any other Name

Purity,

Disclaimer:

AN. Thanks for the reviews and all the favs!

Ninth Book: Arouse by any other Name

Kagome could not believe what her eyes were telling her. There, right in front of her was the holographic form of a man she had thought of as gone since Allen had told her of his death just yesterday night. Kagome struggled to get the required amount of oxygen.

The translucent image only showed him from his waist up. He was wearing his regular exorcist coat, the yellow highlights contrasted greatly with the red stains spotted along the collar and all down the front. He wasn't wearing his hat so his hair played a striking part in his appearance, swept behind him in its usually erotic display. His bangs were a bit different. The right side was pulled in to cover up the fact that he had lost his mask. He slowly lifted his wine glass to his mouth and took a small sip. The smirk that adorned his face after was able to snap Kagome out of her stupor.

"How..." She asked shakily, unable to give voice to all of her question.

Cross raised his glass to his mouth again, threw his head back draining the glass. He leaned over and placed the empty glass on something out of the hologram. Turning back to Kagome, he shifted in his seat and gave her his full attention.

"You" He answered her question. He reached into his coat pocket with his left hand.

"Me?" Kagome was confused. "I didn't do..." Kagome trailed off as she saw what Cross had removed from his pocket. Her eyes widened as she recognized the small pink jewel that innocently laid in Cross's hand.

Cross used his right hand to pinch the small gem and held it out at eye level. Kagome's legs began to fail her. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, eyes never leaving the image Timcampy was showing her.

"The Shikon no Tama" He said before tossing it up in the air, grabbing it and placing it back in his pocket. He leaned forward.

"The Shikon no Tama was an object of immense power before you made the wish that had brought you here. The wish used up all its original power but the jewel was still capable of **holding** power. You had been using the jewel to store your excess power since you arrived here," Cross explained hoping to jog Kagome's memory. It worked.

"I gave it to you" Kagome breathed as she looked up into Cross's eyes. "Right before you left to join the Order, I gave it to you"

Cross nodded "You told me that as long as I had it on me the powers you had stored inside it would heal me if I ever got badly injured."

"You're alive, it saved you" Kagome shook her head in awe. They sat in silence as Kagome tried to wrap her head around Cross's rise from the dead. Cross just leaned out of the image and fiddled with something before straightening up with a newly filled glass of wine. Kagome stood up of the ground and made her way over to an apple tree farther in the garden. She made herself comfortable against the bark.

"What happened?" Kagome asked Cross "Who killed you or tried to and where have you been?"

Cross reached into his pocket for a smoke and light. He drew in a large breath and released it in a wave of white haze. He smirked at Kagome as she wrinkled her nose at the disgusting habit.

"I don't really remember much." He said "Different sensations mainly, images, voices and the cold. I felt really cold" Cross took another puff from the stick. When he didn't look like he was going to elaborate Kagome asked again.

"Cross, what happened" Kagome was growing concerned, this was not how Cross usually behaved. It was making her almost scared for what he was going to say. Cross looked at her for a moment, taking another drink from his glass then opened his mouth to speak.

"I was sitting in my rooms, drinking of course a most sweet tasting red wine. It was right after I explained to Allen about the fourteenth. It had been a... difficult discussion. You know about the fourteenth right?" At Kagome's nod he continued. "Can't say I didn't expect it, been pissing the top man off for a while now."

Cross smirked as Kagome shook her head. Cross took another drink before he started again.

"I was ready for him, had Judgement out ready to shoot, only he was quicker." Cross puffed on his smoke. "He got me once in the chest and once right in the head with a bullet. Broke my mask clean off. Fucking Crow."

Kagome interrupted "Do you know who shot you?"

"No the basterd was a Crow. He was wearing that ugly get up that covers their entire body. Could have even been a woman who shot me, damn, you know she would have been wild in the sa-"

"Cross!" Kagome shouted. "I really don't want hear that, thank-you" She raised her hand to rub her eyes. There was the Cross she knew and... knew. Cross gave her a smug grin over his wine glass.

"That shot would have killed me if not for the jewel. I think I might just have, truthfully. The jewel had to use up all of its power to heal me from the shot to the head. It didn't have enough juice to fully heal the shot to the chest.' He raised a hand over the biggest red satin on his jacket.

"I woke from my brush from death into a haze of pain. I remember hearing the door shut and someone shouting to 'go get him.' I just knew that I had to get out of there. I somehow managed to break the window with my shoulder. The pain must have made my pass out again because the next time I woke up I was lying in a hotel bed in some small beat town. I had fallen out of the window into the river that flows next to the building, washed up on shore way down stream."

"You were lucky you didn't drown." Kagome exclaimed. She looked at Cross's drink in envy before shaking her head. She needed something stronger anyways. "So where was this town?"

"It was just a small little town by the river, didn't even have a hospital. It did have a very fine looking hotel maid. Who was oh so kind to the poor injured man" Cross leered at Kagome as he blew another ring of smoke. He gave her a wide smile showing more teeth than she was comfortable with.

"She gave the most sensational sponge baths." He drawled

"Cross! Please can't you control yourself for once" Kagome yelled completely exasperated. Cross raised an eye brow.

"You know, you looking very fine yourself right now, Mum" he said as his eyes trailed over her tight leggings and knee high boots.

"Cross, if you're trying to seduce me, please don't call me mum. It puts your already low chances even lower. It's a real turn off." Kagome closed her eyes and let her head fall back to rest against the trunk of the tree.

"Maybe for some" Cross purred his voice going an octave lower. Kagome's eyes flew open to see a cheeky smile on his face.

"You're a sick man Cross." He just chuckled as he used his right hand to put out his used smoke. His left hand slowly swirled his half glass of wine.

"Are you still at the town?" Kagome decided to lead the conversation over to safer territory.

"No, once I was able to breathe and walk without flinching I borrowed some money and took a train to France. I've been staying at one of your old manors here." Cross said "The Tashio manor in the lower Normandy area"

Kagome nodded. She had many manors and estates across the world. Not to mention a large cash sum in just as many banks. It had come from when she had tried out high class living. Using her knowledge of her own world's past it wasn't hard to make a lot of money and slip her way into the lords and ladies of the time. She had used the last name Tashio as a tribute to her old teacher. Her stocks were still making her money, though with the amount Cross liked to steal from her it wasn't going very far.

It was Kagome's turn to raise a brow as Cross's wine glass glinted in the light. "So that's my wine you're drinking then" Kagome stated more than questioned. He raised his glass in a toast.

"Rosé d'Anjou, a very fine wine, you have good taste." He lifted the glass to his mouth.

"Expensive too" Kagome watched as the glass was grained. "You're not going to drink me out of house and home are you?"

"Don't worry, I'm laying low so it will only be me enjoying the sweet taste." Cross leaned out of the frame to refill the empty glass.

"Oh that makes me feel so much better" Kagome's sarcasm was ignored by Cross.

Kagome looked away from where Cross was making a show of tasting her wine. Her eyes took in the garden. The pond she and Bookman had conversed over was glowing under the moon light. The rose bush off to her right was displaying tiny buds only just showing their deep red color. The bleeding hearts gave a splash of pink to the picture.

Kagome sat up suddenly, her heart starting to race. Cross jerked a little from her quick action, almost dropping the new smoke he was lighting.

"The Heart! Cross what happened to the-"Kagome panicked

"It's fine. It's still where we hid it four years ago. Why are you worried? Even if someone managed to off me nothing would happen to the heart." Cross waved Kagome's fears away with his smouldering cigarette.

Kagome settled down, her moment of insanity over. Of course nothing happened to the Heart, she knew that. Being here was making her paranoid.

"How are you able to contact me anyways?" Kagome asked. From what Allen told her the hologram conversations were a brand new feature for golems. How did Cross get an upgrade or even a golem since Timcampy was staying with Allen?

"I stole a golem from the science department. Had no idea what it could do but it seemed like a good idea." Kagome rolled her eyes "Timcampy sent me an image of you this morning. Imagine my surprise to see you as a member of the Black Order. That is until I heard that Kanda was part of the team sent to get you. Couldn't say no to a cute ass like his could you?"

"What? No! They saw me using my priestess powers and assumed, correctly, that I had innocence. And what do you mean cute ass, Cross I didn't know you swung that way." Kagome swore her face was as red as the apples hanging above her. Cross shrugged.

"I don't but if one looks the right way he could pass as a girl" Cross crushed his smoke on to the floor with his boot impassively. Kagome stared.

"A very sick man" She mumbled. She shook her head "What about Timcampy sending you an image?"

"He sent me an image telling me that you were there." Cross leaned forward and looked down at her through hooded eyes "I've been waiting all day to get you alone so we could talk" Kagome raised her eye brows and stared unimpressed back at him.

"Thing almost busted when trying to connect to Timcampy, shook so much I thought it would start a fire on the table. You're going to have to steal me a new updated one." Cross continued.

So all the shaking was from Timcampy receiving a signal from an older model. That was good. She had been really worried about Timcampy during the exchange. She would defiantly have to send Cross and updated one.

"So the updated ones won't vibrate like Timcampy did?" Kagome asked to confirm her thoughts.

Cross nodded and blew out a puff of smoke. "Good thing to, I don't think any akuma would be able to miss all the noise of making a damn call."

"Oh God!" Kagome exclaimed. Her hands flew to cover her mouth causing Timcampy to fall off and rolled down the hill a ways, the hologram image of Cross now lay half in a rock. Kagome rushed to stand up and sprinted to Timcampy picking him up.

"What the hell was that?!" Cross was so startled at the sudden movements from her end he had spilt some wine on his jacket. "That's going to stain" He mumbled.

"Sorry but-" Kagome looked at Cross with wide eyes. "The akuma, you don't have an akuma weapon. If the Earl finds out your still alive and unarmed he will kill you." Kagome was too worked up to realize the growing smirk on Cross's face.

"Cross promise me you will stay hidden until I can steal Judgement from the Order." The smile got wider.

"I will also have to steal your innocence back from Hevlaska. Oh how am I going to do that! This is a nightmare!" The smile showed off one too many teeth.

"What the hell am I to do Cross?" Kagome finally looked up at Cross and noticed the unnerving smile on his face. "Cross what..?"

"I'm not unarmed" He sank back in his chair. His smile settled back into an arrogant tilt of the lips.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked

"I'm not unarmed" Cross said again and raised his glass to her mouth.

Kagome gritted her teeth. "I got that part, but how can that be? Your innocence is with Hevlaska"

"That's not mine" Cross took another sip.

"How can that not be yours? It was found next to Judgement!" Kagome was not pleased with Cross's evasion of her questions.

Cross got an assumed gleam in his eyes."Because my innocence is right here." He pushed back his coat so he could reach his waist. In what should have been empty holster was a blood red gun. He pulled it out and began to caress its barrel like how one would caress their bride.

The gun looked just like Judgement. Right down to the stylized crosses that adorned each side. The handle, the trigger and barrel were all the same shape and size as his old gun. The only different was instead of a glaring white the new gun was a deep red, almost black in the shadows.

Cross was enjoying Kagome's wide eyed look. It was hard to surprise her with all the experience she has had over her long life. He had been able to shock her many times this evening, yes Cross was having so much fun.

"That's not all" He said as his reached his left hand around to his right hip and pulled out another gun, exactly the same as the first. He held them both in the air with the barrels pointed to the sky. He indicated the one in his right hand.

"Salvation" He then nodded to the one on his left "Damnation"

"Your innocence evolved? But... I don't understand." Kagome was struggling to comprehend.

"When that Crow 'killed' me, my innocence detached from Judgement but when the Shikon started to save me it reattached, not to my gun but to my blood. My 'rebirth' evolved my innocence." Cross explained. He drained his glass before continuing.

"When I was woken by that door, I didn't even realize that Judgment wasn't at my side and instead I had two new weapons. Good thing I didn't lose them in the river." Cross placed the guns back into their holsters.

"What about the innocence that was found by Judgement?" Kagome asked. It was the only thing that didn't make sense. Cross shrugged.

"Don't know, probably one of the ones I carry around to find new exorcists." Cross looked over to his right and frowned at something out of the image.

"Excuses me for a second, I'm all out of wine" Cross stood up and left leaving Kagome to stare at the back of the red velvet chair Cross had been sitting on.

Kagome walked back over to the apple tree and fell back on is trunk. She lightly started to bang her head against it.

This had been one hectic day. Kagome sighed. She needed a drink.

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AN.

Please, Please, Please review and tell me what you thought of Cross's survival. AND how you liked Cross. He is such an interesting character because there is so much mystery about him. Most of what we know comes from Allen's P.O.V or small glimpses were he's interacting towards a goal. So writers have a lot of free way when it comes to Cross's true personality. Writing him as a cunning flirt was quite fun.

Rosé d'Anjou is a rose wine made around the city of Angers. A least I think so. I tried to look up wines made in France but it was harder than I thought. I just found regions where wine was made instead of names of wine. So I just went with this.

The names of the guns come from a character in one of my favourite movies. You got to love Antonio Banderas in Zorro. *drool*

New clue: A parasitic innocence changes the DNA structure of the part of the body it inhabits. For Allen it is his left arm, Krory his teeth. For Kagome it is her entire nervous system.

Next time on Purity:

Tenth Book: Spiritual Evolution


	10. Book X: Patience

Purity,

Disclaimer:

AN. Sooo... Been a long time, eh? Way over a month already, hopefully the next update will be sooner. But Thanks for the reviews and all the favs! This is only part one of the chapter, part two will hopefully be out soon!

Tenth Book: Spiritual Evolution (Part one)

Lenalee was standing off to the side of the dance floor by the dessert table watching as Allen moved through the dancers stopping every now and again to stand on tip-toes to look over the crowd seeming to search for something. Her amusement grew as he approached the table beside her and instead of grabbing one of the many chocolates and cakes to wolf down in true Allen fashion, he bent down and lifted the table skirt and ducked his head to peer under the table.

"Allen? What are you doing?" Lenalee asked when his head reappeared.

Allen didn't stop his search and walked to the next table, this one holding platters of assorted meats and again lifted the skirt and ducked under. He made a grunt in the back of his throat and stood up again harshly.

"Did you loss something?" Lenalee tried again this time raising her hand to grab onto Allen's shoulder. He gave a small jump before turning around fast to face the confused girl.

"Oh, hey Lenalee, I didn't see you. Is there something that I can help you with?" Allen smiled

"Actually I was hoping to help you. Did you lose something?" Lenalee placed her hands behind her back and leaned over to look at Allen as he moved to the next table and bent down.

"No I didn't lose anything but I can't find Kagome anywhere. I wanted to ask her how she liked the party" Allen dipped below the table skirt.

"So you're looking under tables?" Allen jumped from the unexpected voice coming from in front of him.

*bang* Allen smacked his head on the underside of the table. Quickly pulling out, Allen looked up and across the bench to see Lavi also pulling his head back and stood up. He rested his forearms on the table and cocked his head a little to the right, sporting an innocent smile on his face.

Allen tried to defend himself. "Well I can't find her anywhere so..." and failed.

"She left the party a while ago" Lavi said. He walked a couple of tables down and snatched himself a strawberry tart. Lenalee also grabbed a treat, she favoured the chocolate fudge. Allen however made no move towards the food.

"Why would she leave?" Allen asked his older friend, Lavi shrugged.

"She was tired and wanted to go to her room? Needed some air? I don't know" Lavi grabbed another tart, blueberry this time. Allen also reached for one this time and was about to swallow it in one bite when,

"She is not supposed to be wondering the halls by herself" Link appeared at his shoulder. Allen jumped for the second time in less than 10 minutes. He dropped his tart and in the humorous scramble to reclaim it got the filling all over his hands and coat.

"Why not?" Lenalee asked as she passed a napkin to Allen.

"The Inspector does not trust her." Was all the answer she got.

"Why not?" This time it was Allen that posed the question. But all he got was silence.

Lavi jumped in. "Well then, let's go find her. She might have gotten lost anyways." He pushed Allen and Lenalee towards the door, Link followed after them.

"Let's check her room first" Lenalee pulled Allen ahead of the group and out the door.

Lavi slowed down and trailed after the three. His eyes lost their happy shine and become the serious, hidden look of the bookman clan. He scanned the party one last time before joining up with his friends. Something wasn't quite right with the newest member of the order.

~*~

Kagome settled more comfortably against the apple tree as she watch Cross fall back in the chair clutching two bottles of what had to be very expensive wine in one hand. His other was holding an alight smoke, spreading ashes on her pure white carpet.

"Better?" She asked once Cross had filled his glass and took a sip.

"Indeed, you have the best taste in wine, Mum" He smiled that annoying smile of his. She gave a sarcastic grin back and ignored the bait.

"Your evolved weapons... How are they different from Judgement?" Kagome asked, moving right back into the discussion they were having.

"Wouldn't know" Cross raised his chin up and blew a puff of smoke straight up into the air.

"What does that mean?"

Cross lowered his chin and stared at Kagome. "I'm on the down low, being discrete, keeping a low profile." He tilted his head and smirked at the girl. "I haven't used them yet, don't want to be seen and have the Earl know I'm still alive."

"True"

Cross shifted in his chair and set both his smoke and wine glass on the table off screen to his right. He then leaned forward with a serious and somewhat amazed expression on his face.

"It does feel different though. With Judgement I just had a gun by my side, but now I have this awareness with Salvation and Damnation. It's like they're a part of me and yet not. I don't feel pain or any sensation if they get bumped or anything but I'm aware that they did even if they're not on me. Does that make sense?"

"Kind of"

A silence settled over the two as they both contemplated over what had been said. The night had completely settled her blanket over the complex. The light of the waning moon did little to hide the stars in the sky. The constellations were a perfect duplicate of the ones from her old world, it used to make her heart ache but now looking at them, there was only a pleasant calm that washed over her. Cross's voice crept softly over the roots of the apple tree.

"About the evolutions" he started, ending the small trance they both have fallen into. "I have a theory on how it's happening."

"Oh?" This peeked Kagome's attention.

"Ya, all that bed rest allowed me to think." Cross said before he got interrupted.

"There's two words I never thought I would hear together coming from you, Bed and Rest" Was Kagome small jab. Cross just gave her a too-many-teeth smile and made his own comment.

"Of course you probably have a theory of your own, Ms. Expert." Kagome raised a brow.

"I think I may have an idea"

Cross nodded before picking up his smoke and wine glass "Let me tell you mine first then we'll compare"

"Fine by me"

~*~

Kanda hated parties, loathed them to be exacted. They were a waste of his time, effort and patience.

Kanda looked over at where his Mentor Tiedoll was singing off key to a song that had to be popular before he was even born and trying to get the stony Noise to join in.

Definitely patience.

~*~

AN.

Eeep! It's been a long time since I updated. I'm so sorry, but after midterms I just couldn't get back into the mood of writing. Hopefully I will be able to update every second week. The story will get finished.

The Chapter isn't finished but I thought that too much time has passed since I updated so hopefully this will tie some people over until I came overcome my writers block.

New clue: Her innocence does not enhance Kagome physically or mentally nor does it add to her priestess powers.

Next time on Purity:

Tenth Book: Spiritual Evolution (Part two)


	11. Book XI: Spiritual Evolution

Purity,

Disclaimer:

AN. Yay I got this up before winter semester started, now I have to go to sleep I have classes tommor... later on today! Thanks again for the reviews, sorry it took so long!

Tenth Book: Spiritual Evolution (Part two)

Cross leaned back into the chair and lifted his glass to his mouth. He took a long slow drink and then held the glass to his lips as he slowly organized how he was going to approach the conversation. Kagome placed Timcampy in a covenant hollowed knot in one of the larger roots of the apple tree. Then settled back against the bark, raising and holding one knee to her chest as she patiently waited for Cross to begin. She shivered in the cold.

"Before I start, I have one question" Cross lowered his glass and turned to look at Kagome.

Kagome didn't raise her head from where it was leaning against her leg, just glanced at the man out of the corner of her eyes. "Yes?"

"My idio ... My Apprentice..." He started before stopping for a moment. His face had an uncharacteristic look of concentration as he frowned into his glass. There were minute shadows forming from the wrinkles across his brow. "His innocence has evolved as well." The shadows got deeper as he looked up.

Kagome raised her head to look fully at Cross. Slowly nodding her head, she agreed, "I believe so."

Cross nodded twice before taking another drink. "I thought so. The Crown Clown was too..." He trailed off and started to wave the hand holding his wine in small circles as he tried to think of the correct word for what he was trying to express. "Different... as if it had a mind of its own."

Kagome nodded absentmindedly. "From the stories that Allen told me while we were traveling, I have to agree. Parasite types... their innocence have a deeper connection then that of equipment types but they still only react to the user's conscious thoughts." Kagome rubbed her hands together trying to warm them as the temperature started to get noticeably colder.

"With the Crown Clown," Kagome continued. "Allen mentioned a couple times when it would defend him against attacking akuma that he had no idea about." Kagome stuffed her hands into the sleeves of her coat and hunched closer to the tree. "That's not normal, The Crown Clown isn't acting like an extension of Allen and it`s become more of a..." Kagome struggled to find the right word.

"Guardian Angel" Supplied Cross. Kagome, a little surprised at Cross's interpretation, stared up at him with amused eyes.

"Cross... That was almost..." Kagome's smile grew as she tried to hold in what she knew had to be a very girlish giggle. "Romantic!" Kagome snorted and hid her face into her shoulder.

Cross turned to her from where he had been staring off into the distance with an affronted look upon his face. "I'll have you know that I can be very romantic" He sniffed as he brushed imaginary dust off his right lapel.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "You, me, tonight, your place, is in no why romantic Cross"

Cross snorted into his wineglass and couldn't keep from forming a slight smile. To cover up his amusement he waggled his eyebrows at the girl cuddled up against the tree and said. "If said in the right way...."

"No Cross," Kagome shook her head, holding one hand up as if to physically block any more on coming words, though the large smile on her face and the small humorous shakes of her shoulders were enough to satisfy Cross. "No." Allowing one last giggle Kagome took in a large breath and calmed down. "Let's get back on topic shall we? You had a theory on how the innocence were evolving."

"That I do" Cross picked back up his smoke and threw his right leg over the arm of the chair, careful not to bump the table holding the wine. Angling his body towards Kagome and making sure she had a very good view of his crotch, he began.

"The only way to make an object more powerful is to add something to it. When Allen was fighting the third level akuma in the Asian headquarters, he gave everything he had. It was the same with the battle Lenalee had on the ocean. Fighting until the end, knowing full well that they were going to die and even that might not be enough to stop the akuma."

Cross swung his leg back in front of him and lent forward. His arms were on his knees and the ashes of the forgotten cigarette were spreading on the carpet. "Both Allen and Lenalee were willing to give everything to end those third level akumas. Willing to sacrifice anything, their strength, their very lives, even..."

Cross trailed off in a dramatic pause, His eyes staring intensely at the women sitting in front of him. Kagome, herself had her face pressed up towards her knees as she held her breath for Cross's next words.

"Their very souls"

Kagome slowly raised her head until she was looking Cross straight in the eye. Her face held a small knowing smile, and she finished Cross's explanation.

"Or at least part of them"

~*~

"Allen!" Lavi's voice echoed down the furbished corridors of the Black Order's new headquarters "Lenalee!"

The two standing outside Kagome's room turned to look at the hyper Bookman in training as he sprinted down the hall towards them and Link. They had just finished knocking on the door to Kagome's room but had gotten no answer and seeing Lavi return, alone, from where he was checking out the hospital ward and Kagome's new office did not raise their sprits.

Lavi didn't bother to slow down his dash as he neared the three instead he grabbed a surprised Allen to try and stop his momentum. The resulting chaos ended with both of them falling to a heap on the cold stone floor. Not one to sweat the small stuff, Lavi quickly jumped to his feet and ignored Allen's exaggerated moans of pain.

"No luck here either?" He asked

Lenalee could only shake her head as she helped pull the poor English boy up off the floor, she didn't dare open her mouth and risk bursting into laughter.

Lavi made a scene of humming and hawing, his right hand stroking an imaginary beard for the younger exorcists. Turning to face down the hall, Lavi hid the hardened bookman glint in his eye. Physically he maintained his humorous charade but mentally he was quickly recalling and categorizing all the information he had gained on the Order's newest member. From her dubious and abbreviated history, her all too accepting actions of the Order and the war, not to mention her odd meeting with his mentor who was uncharacteristically silent about her when asked.

Rouvelier's suspicion of her only cemented the fact that there was something off about Kagome. As much of an ass that he is, Rouvelier was no fool and Lavi was forced to acknowledge that fact. Link paying a bit more attention to anything pertaining to Kagome didn't hurt either. Lavi took a quick glance at the man from the corner of his eye.

"Maybe she's in the gardens, that where she was the last time we couldn't find her." Lavi said as he turned back around, eye once again yielding a playful and mischievous shine.

Lenalee, nodding and smiling at Lavi's conclusion swiftly took charge. "Okay, let's go!" Spinning on her toes, she led the boys down the hall.

~*~

Cross sat back into the chair and raised his cigarette to his lips. His attempt to inhale his lovely nicotine was thwarted, however as the smoke had burnt out in the conversation. Flicking the finished butt across room, Cross reached one hand over to the table and fumbled for a new smoke. After finally getting one and lighting it, he threw the used match to join the old smoke on the floor and turn to face an unamused Kagome.

"So... we have the same theory" Cross started.

"Seem so. I can't test it without bring too much attention to myself. God knows inspector Rouvelier already doesn't like me" Kagome rolled her eyes.

A yawn forced itself from Kagome's lips. She brought her hand to cover it and arched her back to give a complementary stretch. She settled down against the bark and rubbed her upper arm tying to ward off the chill of the night air. She looked back up to the man, a question in her eyes, "What made you think that one had to give up part of their soul to evolve one's innocence?"

Cross took both a drink and a long drag before he answered. "You told me a long time ago that innocence was a crystallization of holy powers that could be used by exorcists because it was given physical form though the original users sacrificed soul. The most likely way to evolve innocence was to give it more of one of those two things and since neither Allen nor Lenalee have powers like you do, the only logical conclusion was that they had sacrificed part of their soul."

Cross took another drink draining his glass. "I also knew that one can lose small parts of their soul without suffering, you yourself had a large part of your soul stolen from you in your teenage years by Kikyo."

Kagome nodded. Everything that Cross had said matched what she, herself believed... except for one little thing. Kagome smirked at the smug general.

"Your plan has a flaw though Cross" Cross raised an eyebrow in question. "There are currently three people who have their innocence evolved. Your theory only explains Allen and Lenalee but how do you explain yourself? "

"Easy!" Cross stated with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I had the other part of the formula" He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Shikon. "I had this to evolve it for me. Your Holy Powers" Cross stressed, "were used in abundance, the innocence must have absorbed some and evolved." He placed the jewel back into his pocket and bent over to refill his glass.

"You have an answer for everything don't you?" Kagome stated with a smile.

Cross lifted his glass and also grinned. "Cheers"

~*~

Allen peered into the night trying to make out any figures in the dark silent garden. The cool breeze of a cold spring night swept past him and even with his position just in the doorway with the warm air of the building wafting behind him was not enough to stop a tiny shiver.

Lavi leaned over his right shoulder "You see anyone?" He whispered.

"No" Allen answered also keeping his voice unnecessary low.

"Well then" Lavi said, standing straight, "We'll just have to go out and look for her."

Lavi took a deep breath and brought his hands up to cup is mouth. "Kagome!.. Are you out there?" He yelled ignoring the fact that Allen's ears were right beside him.

No response was heard, not that Allen could hear one if there was. Allen turned to tell Lenalee that she should stay there and keep out of the cold before stepping off the steps and onto the grass.

Lavi was already a ways ahead so Allen had to run too get caught up to the energetic redhead. Together they began to search.

~*~

"How do you like the Order?" Cross asked as he expertly screwed the opener into the wine cork, the last bottle having been polished off moments ago.

Kagome gave a soft smile. "Its fine, the people are very nice. Well except for a noticeable few." Kagome mumbled the last part under her breath. "I was worried about there being a bookman here."

"That's right!" Cross exclaimed and hurried to finish pouring himself his glass. Setting the bottle down, he returned to the conversation. "You're a... oh what's it called..." Cross fumbled the cigarette with his lips and snapped the fingers of his unoccupied hand in rapid rhythm.

"A P.O.I!" Cross stated with one last load snap. "A Person of Interest, you've been an ally of the bookman clan for how long now? What do they know precisely anyways?"

"A little over one hundred years now." Kagome answered. "And they know I'm older than that but they don't quite know how old, I never told them. They also know I don't age obviously. As for my powers, I believe they only know that I can heal but if they contribute that to me having innocence or if they think it's different, I have no idea. I do know you're the only one who knows I'm from a different dimension though."

"They won't tell anyone, will they?" Cross asked unusually worried.

Kagome gave a small laugh "I asked the senior of the two that very same question. He almost looked insulted. No, he won't tell anyone and the younger one doesn't know."

"That's good." Cross sipped his drink and inhaled on his cigarette, blowing out puffs of the foul smoke. He removed the butt from his mouth and put in out in the ash tray. "Speaking of not telling anyone..." He trailed off and stared hard at Kagome. "You won't tell anyone I'm still alive, right?"

Kagome, now understanding why Bookman got affronted by that very same question, raised her eyebrow at Cross. "Do you want me to?"

"No, the less that know the better" Cross sighed. He looked down at Kagome and noticed how badly she was shivering. He decided that the conversation was done for today. "I'll contact you every three days, or to be safer, you contact me every three days."

"Sounds good to me" Kagome agreed. A cool breeze caressed the sitting girl making her shiver harder. "Darn, it's cold out here."

"Don't worry Mum, the next time I see you in person I'll warm you right up" Cross leered and even went so far as to lick his lips in a slow and obvious fashion.

Kagome stood up shaking her head and dusted off her backside. Stomping her feet to get rid of the pins and needles, she had just opened her mouth to tell Cross off when a yell ripped through the garden.

"Kagome?.. Are you out there?"

Spinning around franticly towards the voice Kagome spotted the vibrant red hair of the Order's resident Bookman Jr. coming her way. Eyes wide in fear with the thought of being caught talking to Cross, Kagome turned anxiously back to Timcampy.

Her fear was unnecessary as Cross had already ended the transmission, leaving a dazed Timcampy to fly from the root to rest in Kagome's outstretched hands. Kagome shook her head, Cross was never one for good-byes.

"Thank-you Timcampy" Kagome whispered praise to the little fellow. She set the still shaky golem in its place on top of her head.

"Kago~ome!" Lavi stretched out her name in a loud yell as he ducked under the branches of the willow tree. Kagome spotted the white head of Allen join him.

Kagome stepped out from under the shadows. "Hey guys, over here" She shouted back to them, waving her arms so they could see her better.

They spotted her and hurriedly made their way over to her, Kagome also moved to meet them, going slow so not to trip over the roots.

"Hey Kagome, we were looking for you. Were you out here the whole time?" Allen asked when the two met her half way. Noticing movement on top of her head he spotted Timcampy. "There you are Tim, I was wondering were you went off to"

"I just needed some air." She said with a shrug. "I was just sitting under the apple tree watch the stars. It's so peaceful in the gardens. Tim here was keeping me company, right Tim?"

The little golden ball nodded its body and flew off her head to bury itself in Allen's collar, seeking the heat.

Allen noticed his actions, "We better get inside. It's cold out here." And as if on cue a large gust of cold wind brushed by them, raising the end of Kagome's coat and lifting Allen's hood.

Kagome brushed her escaped hair from her face. "Right, let's go"

Kagome and Allen started to make their way back inside before Allen suddenly came to a stop. Spinning around, he gazed back into the night.

"Where's Lavi" Allen asked turning his head side to side trying to stop the tell some red hair. He finally spotted him staring down at the roots of the apple tree, face in quiet concentration.

"Oi Lavi! You coming? We're freezing here" He yelled to the boy.

The teen looked over at the two waiting for him and placed a happy smile on his face. He bounced over and sided right up to Kagome, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Have you tried Jerry's hot chocolate yet, It'll warm you right up"

Kagome shook her head at both his question and his antics. She nodded her head in thanks as Allen held the door open for her and upon entering received a large smile from Lenalee. After they started to warm up a bit the group of five made their way down the dim halls and back to the still on-going party.

~*~

AN. Part Two!

About Allen's innocence evolving, I believe that in the manga and the anime that it was said that only Lenalee's innocence evolved. I know that Allen hit critical point and gained the sword from that but the explanation for the Crown Clown always bugged me. So in this story Allen's innocence has also evolved, though the Order has yet to figure that out.

I would like to give a shout out to Winter Alais for all your reviews and your consistent guesses as to what Kagome's innocence could be. You're the only one that does, so Thank-you.

I have one last Clue, though it will be a few (four, maybe five at least) more chapters before it is revealed.

Last clue: The person with the most similar innocence to Kagome's would have to be Arystar Krory's.

(I bet that was confusing)

Next time on Purity:

Eleventh Book: no title as of yet


	12. Book XII: Settled In

Purity

Disclaimer: Because I'm really doing to be sued if I don't have this...

AN. There's an important message at the end of the chapter. Please make sure to read! Oh, and I re-did my other story call "Out with a bang." Twice as long now, check it out.

Eleventh Book: Settled In

A loud crash startled Kagome causing her to jump and clutch a hand to her breast. Spinning around fast she just caught the hand of Miranda as it fell behind her new cedar desk. Standing up on tip-toes Kagome was not able to quite see over the desk so settled back down on her heels and picked her way through the mass of boxes that littered her office floor.

"Are you all right?" she called.

Coming around the end of the desk Kagome spotted Miranda among the fallen papers, pens and other office supplies that Miranda had been carrying. The young lady did not appear to be hurt but the presence of tears made Kagome rush to her side.

"I'm SO sorry!" Miranda yelled, tears streaming down her red and blotchy face. She spun around and grabbed onto Kagome's out stretched hand that had been trying to remove the papers lying on top of Miranda's head.

"I'm such a klutz! I'll ... I'll clean in up!" She jumped up and grabbed one of the boxes off the floor. However, in her haste she threw off her already precarious balance and ended up tripping again. Sending the box and all its contents raining down upon the two girls. Kagome managed to dodge most of the hail of erasers and highlighters but poor Miranda ended up with the box over her head. Which was a good thing as it blocked the amused smile Kagome was unable to keep off her face.

Kagome slowly lifted the box from Miranda's head, keeping her actions smooth and voice low as if not to spook a frightened animal, or in this case a nervous Miranda. "It's ok, just calm down. I'm in no rush to have my office fixed up" She smiled and stood up, offering her hand to help the women up.

Miranda stared up at Kagome with what looked to be gratefulness and a bit of awe in her eyes. She quickly wiped her eyes and nose across her sleeve and accepted the helping hand up.

When both girls were standing, Kagome surveyed the state of her room. The fallen papers and boxes piled around her desk and the chaotic mess of furniture waiting just out the door, waiting for some strong young men to carry them to their proper places. Kagome started to laugh at the sight.

Miranda was confused. "Why are you laughing?" She asked timidly.

Kagome just looked over at her and smiled. "I just realized how much my office looks like Komui's."

Miranda turned to take a look and she too began to laugh. It wasn't really all that funny, but that wasn't the point of Kagome's laughter. She had been trying to ease the tension and nervousness that surrounded Miranda. It worked too, as they calmed down and got back to work Mirada was comfortable in her presence. With no more incidents Mirada's confidents grew large enough to try and start a conversation with the Order's newest recruit.

"Kagome?" She asked, turning to watch the mentioned girl. "Why do you have your own office? Not even the generals have one."

Kagome stopped placing her books on the shelves and turned around. "It's because I'm not like the other exorcists. My powers are neither defensive nor offensive. Besides a field medic, I'm pretty much worthless in a fight against an akuma as I can't destroy them. I'm more of a nurse, so this is kind of like my own little hospital ward." Kagome turned back around and placed the last book into its place. "That and I think Komui wanted to make up for Rouvelier's attitude, not to mention bribe me into staying in the Order." She mumbled under her breath so that Miranda couldn't hear.

"Oh that makes sense!" Mirada nodded and closed the desk drawer.

The two women looked around the room trying to find anything else that needed to be done, but besides a couple of heavy chairs and a long couch in the hall that Reever and Noise promised to move for her later today, Kagome couldn't find anything else to do. "Looks like we're done" Kagome said, walking to the middle of the room, dusting off her hands.

She turned to Miranda. "Thank-you so much for helping me, it went by a lot faster with two people."

"Nnn...nno problem" Miranda held up her hand in front of her, her face turned red with embarrassment. "I was just helping out, it was only the polite thing to do." She looked down and away from Kagome. Kagome smiled.

"Even so, thank-you" Kagome looked over to the clock above her shelves and notice it was around lunch time. "Do you want to join me for lunch?"

"Ah..." Mirada's face grew even redder then before. She stared down at the hard wood floor trying to hide her face behind her bangs. "I, err..." She turned around and started to stare at anything that wasn't named Kagome.

"Miranda?" Kagome called to the crimson women, "Are you okay?"

"Yee- yes" She stuttered, "It's just..." Mirada took a deep breath and rushed out the rest of her sentence. "I kind of promised Noise I would meet him in the gardens for a picnic lunch." Her voice rose in pitch at the end of the sentence making it sound more of a question then a statement.

"Oh, well then," Kagome struggled not to let the huge smile show on her face and tried not to make a big deal out of it. "I hope you have fun, maybe I'll see you at dinner?"

"Dinner... Yes! I'll be there!" Miranda almost shouted out of nerves. "I... um better get going if I don't want to be late." Mirada walked to the door and after a brief hesitation in the door way walked out and down the hall.

Kagome waited until Miranda had turned the corner farther down the hall before stepping into the hallway herself. As she waited she could not keep the girlish grin off her face. They made a good couple. Miranda needed someone calm and collected to keep her from panicking. Not to mention anyone dating her would need a lot of patience to be able to deal with her antics. Noise had all those easily, with some to spare. He would have to, to put up with Kanda all the time. Kagome snorted in mirth.

Thinking it was long enough and after calming down Kagome started on her way to the cafeteria for lunch. From the corner of her eye she spotted the long couch outside her door and a smile crept back up her face. She had found it in one of the unused rooms and had to have it in her office. It looked just like what one would find in a therapists office in her world.

Kagome shook her head at her morbid humor and continued down the hall. Hopefully there would be someone there she could eat lunch with.

~*~

"Sorry" Kagome said in reflex as she tried not to spill her tray of food. When everything was safe from taking a fall to the floor she lifted her head to look at the person who had carelessly bumped into her, without so much as an apology.

The man was big, huge actually. Sumo wrestler build with slicked back styled hair, what was odd was the fact that he had some sort of tattoo around his eyes, two distinctive dots on the forehead and pointed ears. In fact, Kagome took another look just to be sure, his companions had the same markings. Both the small girl and slim man have the same pointed ears, dots and tattoos. Their dress was different too. Instead of the black of the exorcists or the light brown of the finders these three were wearing a crimson uniform.

It wasn't just their appearance that made them stand out either. It was the way people reacted to them. Everyone got out of their way, and went out of theirs to avoid them. Just who were they?

"Koushi" The slim man turned and looked over his shoulder at Kagome but didn't stop walking. "That was impolite" The big one who had banged into her and who's name appeared to be Koushi just grunted and didn't even turn around.

'Well that was rude' Kagome thought. She looked around for a place to sit and spotted the back of Lavi's head. She paused for a moment not sure if she should join him. Kagome had no problem with Lavi. In fact she really enjoyed his company. He was hilarious to hang around with and always good for a long conversation, it was just when the two of them were alone and all his attention was directed at her that she felt a bit edgy. It was when they were alone that his other side, his Bookman side came out and the interrogation started. He certainly lived up to his clans expectations in all the subtle questions and conversation traps he added when talking to her. He was very good and if Kagome wasn't almost 400 years old he may have caught her in a lie about her fake back story.

No it wasn't that Kagome didn't want to join Lavi, it was just she was tired having to watch everything she said to the suspicious bookman-in-training.

She took too long in deciding. A large commotion from the front of the room attracted the hall's attention and Lavi turned around. She knew right when he spotted her too, his face broke into a grin and he lifted his hand up and yelled out.

"Kagome, Allen over here!"

Wait, Allen? Kagome spun around slowly to look behind her and sure enough, walking away from a venomous Kanda was Allen carrying enough food to stuff at least seven people. 'So that was what the commotion was' Kagome thought as she sat down in front of Lavi. 'Those two can never be in the same room without getting into a fight.'

"Hello Kagome, Lavi" Allen greeted them and sat down to Kagome's left. Link having already claimed the spot beside Lavi, much to Kagome's relief. Lavi never questioned her in front of Link.

Kagome's eyes jumped back up to Link. He was wearing a red uniform too. Not the same kind as the others but it was the same shade and he also had those strange dots on the forehead, those of a Crow, Kagome just realized. Kagome was not able to hold in her curiosity so asked the resident bookmen-in-training.

"Lavi" She started and waited until he was finished slurping up his noodles. He quickly wiped the tomato sauce from his nose. "Yes?" Kagome kept her head down and pointed with her chin. "Who are those people, the ones in the red?"

Lavi and Allen, who was listening in, turned and looked to see where she was pointing to. The three had settled down at the other side of the hall in the corner farthest away from where everyone else was sitting.

The boys turned back to face Kagome "Those are the third exorcists" Lavi said.

"Third exorcists?" Kagome asked looking back over at the three.

"Ya," Lavi said, he swallowed the rest of the food in his mouth. "There are three types of exorcists, first, second and third. The first type is your regular exorcists, like you and me, which are compatible with an innocence and use it to battle against the Earl and the akuma. There are also three sub types of the first level exorcists: weapon, parasite, which is what you have, and crystal, which only Lenalee has. The crystal is the evolved form of the weapon."

Kagome nodded though out the explanation. She had to hide a smile when Lavi said there were only three sub types. With the evolution of Allen's parasite there were now four types, the fourth Kagome had taken to call Guardian after Cross's comment the other day.

"Yes, I was told all that" Kagome said.

Lavi nodded and continued explaining. "The second type isn't much different from the first, at least to my knowledge. They also use innocence like the first but their healing rate is accelerated. Yuu Kanda is a second exorcists, I've seen him heal from wounds in hours that would take a normal person days."

Again she had been told all that and more from Cross. Cross also didn't know all the details but he knew more than people thought and definitely more then what she was just told. Needless to say both of them were happy when the Order stopped with the experiment. It gave her shivers just thinking about it.

Kagome looked over to where Kanda was eating his Soba noodles. 'To think, the Order had wanted to kill him,' Kagome internally shook her head, 'and people wonder why Cross hates it here so much and why I've never wanted to join.'

She turned back to Lavi, who had been watching her actions with a careful eye. "What about the third exorcists?" Kagome asked 'Cross never mentioned anything about the third type. I wonder if he knows.'

Lavi dropped his voice a bit lower. "They don't use innocence,"

Kagome started, "How can they destroy akuma if they don't have innocence? I was told that it was the only thing that could."

"No there are two things," Lavi looked uncomfortable and kept shooting looks at Allen. Allen kept his head down and mouth full, showing no signs of wanting to participate in the conversation. "Innocence and other akuma"

"Other akuma?" Kagome asked, hoping this wasn't heading where she thought it was.

"Third exorcists are half human, half akuma. They use the dark powers of the Earl to destroy akuma. Those three," Lavi tilted his head over to them, "along with two others are the first of their kind. They were once Crows."

'So much for hoping' Kagome thought, 'and just when I had thought the Order had learnt its lesson after the massacre that happened nine years ago. Damn, it sounds worse this time too. What the hell are the heads thinking. This is going to blow up in their faces. What's going to happen when the Earl gets his egg up and running, he's going to have more control over these half akumas then we are. Do they really think that leaving them half human will change anything? Cross and I have already tried this when we convert akuma to our side but we still have to plant bombs in them because they can never be controlled for long.'

Kagome clutched her hand into a fist beneath the table and tried to continue the conversion and not show her anger. Kagome opened her mouth to ask what a Crow was but was interrupted by Link.

"I thought that Komui was supposed to tell you everything about the happenings of the Order." Link patted his mouth with a napkin and placed it on his finished plate.

Kagome took a deep breath and let all her anger wash from her, she turned to him and nodded "He did, he just couldn't go into much detail at the time. He had gotten an urgent call from a finder, something to do with administration, I believe."

"So, what is it that you do not know" Link asked, "Do you know about the heart, the Noahs," Link glanced at Allen from the corner of his eye. "The 14th "?

Allen and Lavi froze in their meal, both of them holding their breaths to what her answer might be.

"Yes, I was told all about the 14th " Kagome said.

From the corner of Kagome's eye she saw Allen stiffen. His fork stopped half way to his mouth dripping the contents onto the table. Allen's eyes were wide open, staring unseeingly at the far wall. Eyes normally so fun with humour and innocence clouded over with fear and heart stopping pain before they slowly closed. Allen swallowed once, opened his eyes and started eating again. This time, however, his eyes held a firm, anguished resolution.

He shifted slightly in his seat, a seemingly trivial movement but with those with as keen of perception as Kagome it was as if he had jumped up and raced to the other side of the hall. No physical distance was created in the shift, but mentally, emotionally... It was larger than the Grand Canyon.

He was trying to distance himself from her, trying not to be hurt from how he assumed she was going hate and fear him.

No

He was distancing himself so not to hurt HER. So his very presence wouldn't upset her.

Her heart ached.

Lavi also noticed the increase in tension and tactfully didn't comment. He went back to his meal, keeping his one eye on Kagome trying to see if she had noticed Allen's reaction and what she would do if she did.

Kagome also went back to her lunch choosing not to comment but lifted her hand and placed it softly yet firmly on Allen's knee. His eyes widened again and he stared at her hand as if it was about to attack him. After nothing happened he turned wide, unbelieving eyes to stare at Kagome. She just looked over at him and gave him a small smile and a wink before turning back to her food with one squeeze of his knee.

Allen too, went back to his enormous meal. One could see that a huge wait had been lifted from his shoulders just by how he proceeded to attack the mounds of food in front of him. Through the rest of the meal, Kagome never removed her hand.

As she was getting up to out her finished plate away, Kagome bent over and used the motions of helping Allen clean up his mess to whisper into Allen's ear.

"If you ever just need to get away your welcome to just come to my office and crash there. I may even be able to help you. I don't know what I can do but my powers may be able to help."

Kagome lifted her hand from his knee and grabbed his hand.

"Allen, you're my friend first, above all other things. Whether you're an exorcists or a Noah never forget that you have people who love and care for you." Kagome gave the hand one last squeeze and turned to collect her plate. With one last wink to a teary eyed Allen, Kagome walked out of the cafeteria and towards her room.

Once in the hall, Kagome shook her head. She knew she shouldn`t get close to them but, 'Allen reminds me so much of Shippo, it just brings out the mother it me.'

Kagome slowed down her walk and rubbed her eyes, she was dreading the phone call to Cross she was about to make. They would have to find some way to stop the Earl from completing that egg so that more people wouldn't die from the Order's stupid mistakes.

~*~

It should have been a happy occasion. They should have been celebrating the re-birth of the newest Noah into the family but a twisted, heavy apprehension was still felt within the family. For some reason the Earl was not happy, not it the least. In fact he had been gnawing at that cloth for days now and not even the extension of the family was enough to cheer him up.

He even stopped paying attention to Road and that just made her down right mad and when Road got mad, well as you can see there was a lot of stress within the Noah family right now.

Tiki leaned over to his older brother and whispered in his ear, trying not to draw any attention from where the Earl and the rest of the family were trying to have a polite family dinner. "Do you know why the Earl has been in such a bad mood?"

Sherrill winced and shot a quick look at the Earl. "We've been having... financial problems as of late"

Tiki stared hard at his brother and was forced to try and keep his voice down. "Financial problems? What do you mean financial problem. You're the minister of a country and the Earl has loads of financial partners."

Sherrill winced again and motioned for Tiki to keep it down as his voice had started to rise at the end of his rant. "I know but I'm in the middle of a war which takes a lot of money, so it's been hard diverting it for our uses."

Okay, that makes sense but... "What about the Earl? His clients bring in most of the money"

Sherrill looked over at the Earl and chewed on his lower lip. "Recently we've been getting a lot of letters from our backers saying that they want to..." He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood "well, back out."

Tiki fell back hard against his chair attracting a look of repulse from Lulu Bell. He stayed still until the hag looked away. When she finally turned her attention back to her glass of milk, Tiki turned back to Sherrill. "Do you think anyone has found out that the Earl's been lying about what he's been using the money for?"

Sherrill shook his head. "No, I don't believe so. The letters were all very polite, no threats. They just decided to pull out." He brought his hands to his temples and started to rub them, hoping it would strive off a headache. "It's not the Orders doing, we have no clue what is happening or who is doing this."

He reached out a grabbed onto Tiki's collar bring him even closer so that no one could overhear. "It's gotten so bad we had to stop production on the egg."

Tiki's eyes grew in disbelief. "You had to what!" He hissed. He gaped at Sherrill, turned and gaped at the Earl, turn once more back to his brother. He swallowed "No wonder the Earls been it a bad mood."

"Not to mention we still haven't destroyed the heart, or killed any exorcists lately. I've even heard that the Order has found a new exorcist with the ability to heal a couple weeks ago" Sherrill said releasing Tiki and going back to his meal. Tiki gulped and settled himself down, trying not to remember the disaster he and Road made during the ark. He brought his hand up to his chest, the wounds Allen gave him still stung.

~*~

AN.

Sorry for the long wait. This was a hard chapter to write, mostly because it is kind of a filler chapter. Nothing really exciting happens just setting up some things for the next chapter and noting the passing of time so I was having trouble getting the motivation to write. The lack of reviews didn't help either...

About Kagome's rant about the third exorcists, okay a bit OOC but she`s flipping pissed so I don`t think it's all that unbelievable.

**IMPORTANT**: I've decided to re-vamp the plot. Because of apparent lack of interest of my part, I've decided to cut out about 2/5 of the story. It won't truly change much. It mostly dealt with a huge pet-peeve of mine in the manga/anime (I'm making Cross deal with it now). I had to change Kagome's power slightly. (The very last clue is now wrong, but I think the others still fit) but it will be revelled a lot sooner, as in the next chapter! (Sorry but it's going to be a bit anti-climatic) There is a large clue in the last chapter as to what it is if you can't wait.  
**The one major change would be that the mysterious forth person with an evolved innocence no longer exists** (and no this was not going to be an OC.) Sorry, it's just the three of them now. If you do want to know what I was planning and who the fourth person was send me a message and I'll be happy to tell you.

I am also wondering what I can do to improve my work. This is my first major writing piece, so I challenge you to write me one or more things you wish I would do better. It could be anything to wanting more of a character to wanting more scenery descriptions to wanting fewer questions and more answers. Not looking for flames, just some helpful advice from fellow readers and writers.

Next chapter will hopefully be up a lot sooner this time. Look forward to a lot more of Cross including more information about Cross's and Kagome's past. The problems with the Noah family will be explained and finally the revel of Kagome's innocence powers!

Next time on Purity:

Twelfth Book: ????


	13. Book XIII: Lullaby

Purity,

Disclaimer:

AN**. Before you start reading, **I wanted to clarify what I meant last chapter when I said I was taking out a large portion of the story. The portion I'm taking out was a hassle to deal with. It had a couple of major plot holes and plot threads that went nowhere. In the end, I felt it was going to do more harm than good. So I decided to skip it. Don't worry, this story will still be a full length, not sure when it will end, I keep adding little plot points to help the story. If I had to guess I would say a least fifteen more chapters.

Also in the last chapter, the first two parts happen in the same day. However, the section with the Noah family takes place a couple of weeks later in the timeline.

Twelfth Book: Lullaby

_Dear Lord Pier, head of the Pier Estate, _

_I am writing you on behalf of Lady Kagome, head of the Tashio Family estate.  
__She has recently come across information that as a high standing citizen in her majesty's court she feels obligated to warn you._

_Recently, the head of the family has had cause of suspension towards the Camelot family.  
Her team of investigative experts fear that the recent war was initiated not by Minister Leslie but from behind the scenes by Minister Sherrill by use of the Devil's magic._

_There has been further evidence supporting the belief that the Earl himself has joined in a forbidden occult.  
It has also been suggested that he is using the funding supplied to him not in his charity work but in funding the dark community. _

_We, of the Tashio house hold fear that the whole family has left God's great light and have fallen in with the Devil.  
As we do not have any hard evidence of the family's dark acts we ask that you do not reveal what you have learnt today.  
We are afraid of any rash moves will reflect horribly on our houses. We only ask that you position your family away from any interaction with the Camelots.  
Lady Kagome would hate to see any harm come to such a close ally._

_The Tashio Estate_

Cross ended the "e" with an over done twist and curl. He placed the ink pen back into its holder and blew softly across the parchment. He sat back, picking up a glass of red wine and surveyed what he had just written.

"Good enough." He said rereading the letter. It wasn't like it had to be a masterpiece. Even though Kagome hadn't taken an active role as the head of the Tashio family in years, the Tashios were still one of the most respected families in all of England.

Cross rubbed his eyes and lit up a smoke. He placed it in his mouth and set down his glass. He carefully folded up the letter and placed it to an expensive envelope. He then grabbed the burning royal blue candle burning on the desk and cautiously poured some wax to seal the thing. Before the wax could dry he picked up the family seal and stamped it on the wax leaving the Tashio crest behind.

Cross picked his glass back up and drained it in one go. He eyed the empty bottles next to the desk. He had been writing letters such as this one for weeks now. Ever since Kagome had called upset about the newest experiments the Order were going. They hoped by removing the main source of the Earl's funding it would slow the production of the egg and hopefully won't result in a disaster with the third exorcists.

Cross sneered. When he had heard about the Order newest experiments he couldn't help but snort. Typical church, playing around with life and death, demons and salvation as if by being priests and having an audience with the Pope gave them that right. They were playing God, not caring who the killed in the process, as long as it was in his name. Cross smirked around the smoke. Of course, he and Kagome were being hypocritical. They did their own experiments back when he had become a general.

Though with Kagome's previous research and her powers, both the priestess and her innocence they were a lot safer and no one was killed. Not to mention Cross's own talents in the mystic arts. Funny, Kagome who had so much knowledge could only do base white magic while he could master anything he tried.

They were mildly successful in their experiments. They found that while they could convert akuma to their side if only for a short while. Kagome never did like the safe guard of planting bombs in them so when they converted back they would be destroyed but it couldn't be helped. Trying to make their own akumas was also met with mixed results. They couldn't imitate the Earl but they found that they could animate the corpse of an exorcist by adding her innocence and Kagome using her powers to 'jump start' it. They safe guarded that as well. Maria would only listen to a command from either Kagome or Cross.

Trying other ways to bring back the dead didn't work either. Cross turned in his chair and looked at the giant fire place behind him. Over the mantel there were two crossed swords, Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga. Nothing they tried could get those swords to work for them, even having a converted akuma try them lead to nothing. Cross let out a large exhale of smoke. "Too bad, bring back the dead could have been fun."

Ya, so maybe they played with life and death themselves but at last they don't have a death count of on the hundreds because of their fail experiments. Cross shrugged and got up off the chair. He needed some more wine if he was going to write any more stupid letters.

~ page break ~

"Kagome! Kagome!"

Kagome looked up from her desk and the health reports she was sorting through to see Lenalee burst through the door of her office. The young girl stood in the doorway, still clutching the handle, bent over and breathing hard. Her face was flush from the run and her limbs were shaking. She looked up before she had finished caching her breath.

"Emergency... *pant*... accident... Allen and a... *pant* ... third exorcist." Lenalee said through her gasps for air.

Kagome was all ready up and moving around her desk when Lenalee had said the word emergency. She ran to the door, momentarily pausing to confirm that Allen was in the hospital ward from the still panting girl, before running down the hall. Lenalee hurried to follow.

When Kagome arrived, skidding to a stop in front of the ward, the first thing she noticed was a crying and shacking Miranda being held by a worried looking Noise standing just outside the ward. Krory was there too, as well as a stoic Kanda standing a bit apart from the rest of the group. All four of them had their eyes glued to the happenings within the room. Turning to enter the ward herself, Kagome took in the crowd of people in white standing around a single hospital bed. Allen's white hair was the only thing that could be seen of him. Everyone was shouting and running around, creating a flurried of organized chaos but it was the slow dripping of blood from the bed to an alarmingly large puddle on the floor that truly caught Kagome`s attention.

Kagome stopped and stared for only a moment before rushing to the bed. Her movements caught the attention of the head nurse.

"Kagome! Come here!" The elderly lady shouted, stepping away from the left side of the bed and motioning for Kagome to take her place. As Kagome rushed to take her spot, the nurse hurried to explain. "We can't stop the bleeding. He has three broken ribs along with a major gash high on his left chest. We fear the broken ribs might have pierced his lung!"

Kagome reached Allen's side and was able to take in the vast amount of damage. Allen had a ghastly slash running from the middle of his sternum and continuing down the left side of his chest stopping just under his rib cage. The three broken ribs were clearly seen through the gushing blood. The crimson pattern splattered on his left created an eerie contrast with the large pink and gray scar running the length of his torso on his right.

"We need you to slow the bleeding so we can see his lungs. If the ribs didn't do any major damage I'll set them and you can heal the break. If not I'll need you to devote all your attention in keeping his lung from collapsing." The head nurse waited for Kagome's nod before turning to the rest of her workers, speaking to them in medical terms most people couldn't hope to understand.

If Kagome cared to listen, she would have understood. This wasn't the first time she had done this sort of work. She had volunteered at enough hospitals in her long years and ran her own private house calls. But Kagome was more than happy to take orders from the confident head nurse.

Said nurse turned back towards her, "You ready?" She asked. Kagome nodded and snaked your hands around the IV line in Allen's arm and oxygen mask covering his face. Once the head nurse saw Kagome's hands reach the point of the worst bleeding she turned to the rest. "Let's pray it's not as bad as we fear."

~ page break ~

It wasn't. Only one of the three ribs had even touched the lung, but luckily it didn't pierce through and therefore the lung was in no danger of collapsing. Kagome and the team of nurses were easily able to set the ribs back into place and repair any damage done to the lung. Kagome then healed up the gash as much as she was able to. The nurses stitched up the rest.

That bothered Kagome.

She sat on a chair beside the still pale boy. It was late and everyone else had left to get some sleep, even the tenacious Link had left for a late night meeting. Allen was still asleep from the blood loss and the pain drugs he had been given so would not be considered a danger to anyone for a while. Kagome had volunteered to watch him through the night as she wouldn't have gotten any sleep herself, not with the thoughts running through her head.

'Why weren't my powers able to heal the entire wound?' She pondered, running her hand through Allen's baby soft white hair. 'The wound wasn't very large. I should have been able to heal it by myself. Why did I feel so fatigued after only mending some broken bones?' she sighed, looking down at the sleeping teen. 'Now Allen's going to have even more scars.' She smoothed the bangs away from his forehead.

'Could it be that because the wound was caused by a third exorcist and therefore by an akuma, my powers had less of an effect? I've always tried my best to stay away from anything involving the Earl and his demons. I've never really had to heal anything major that was caused by an akuma. The most was healing the akuma virus and even that was more of a curse from a dangerous aura then anything truly physical.' Kagome brushed one last hair from Allen's face and let her hand rest lightly on his bandaged side.

'Does this mean that I won't be able to heal as much as I thought when it comes to akuma caused wounds? And what about those caused by a Noah? Their dark powers are even more intense, what if my powers can't heal those wounds?' Kagome clenched her fists in anger and worry.

Allen must have sensed Kagome's fear as he unconsciously lifted his left hand and laid it on top of hers. He turned his head in her direction and started to whimper. Kagome hurriedly started to rub his coarse black hand with her thumb trying to get him to settle back down. She hummed a few bars of an old lullaby.

"Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,  
Smiles await you when you rise.  
Sleep,  
pretty baby,  
don't you cry,  
I will sing you a lullaby."

Allen settled back down, smiling in his sleep. Kagome gave an answering smile, 'doesn't matter how old you are a lullaby always works,' she thought still rubbing Allen's hand with her thumb. Then she frowned. 'He's so young. To have the life he's had and then the problem with the fourteenth Noah on top of that.' Kagome sighed once again.

Kagome looked left then right, confirming that, besides a sleeping Timcampy nestled beside Allen's head, she was alone before turning back to look at Allen's sleeping face. 'This would be the perfect time to check to see if Cross and my theories are correct. I can also see if I am able to help Allen out with the fourteenth.' Kagome slipped her hand out from under Allen's and placed it on his shoulder right where his innocence started. She placed her other hand over where his heart is and took a deep breath letting it out though her nose.

Slowly a light began it emit from her hands but it was not the pleasing pink of her priestess powers but the luminous green of innocence.

~ page break ~

Dawn was slowly creeping through the large glass windows casting large shadows on the objects in the decorative hall. One lone woman casted her own long shadow in the day break as she turned the door knob to her office and entered the darkened room. A smaller shadow danced around her head.

Kagome was tired. After a long day of sorting paper work, then topped with Allen's injuries and her own troubling thoughts all night, Kagome was ready for bed. Unfortunately she had to contact Cross with the information she had just gained.

Timcampy raced into the room ahead of her and was hovering by her couch. Kagome shut her door and rested her back against it. She yawned and squinted her eyes as she striked a match and used it to light the kerosene lamp by the door. She waved out the match and blinked a couple times to get used to the harsh light before surveying the office. Everything was as she left it, except for a small white package on top of her desk. Kagome walked over to her desk and picked up the object. It was light and when she gave it a shake it didn't make a sound. There was also no return address. But if she tilted the box in a certain way she could see two arrows crossed with two swords over a crescent moon appearing on the wrapping. Confused, Kagome turned to Timcampy still moving by her couch.

"Hold on, what's that?" Kagome walked around her desk and over to the large white thing on her sofa. As she got closer she noticed that the white mass was moving rhythmically up and down. As she got closer she was able to make out other shapes in the dim light, an arm and a foot as well as a bunch of golden hair.

"I must have been really tired if I never even noticed someone else in the room." Kagome whispered to herself. She shot Timcampy a confused look, "But why would Reever be sleeping on my couch, that can't be comfortable?" She took in Reever's scrunched up pose and his feet dangling over the side. Timcampy, of course didn't answer but Kagome fancied that he would have shrugged if he could. Kagome ran a hand through her hair before reaching over and settled a hand on the sleeping man's shoulder. "Well only one way to find out." She said and started to softly shake the Australian.

"Reever? Re~ever." She called, get louder and more aggressive with her shaking. "It's time to wake up now." Reever turned his head away from her and burrowed deeper into the cushions, moaning and waving her off. Kagome couldn't keep the amused smile off her face at the endearing man. But that didn't stop her from shaking him even harder.

"Reever, you need to get up now." She placed both hands on the man's back and shoved him back and forth. That seemed to get his attention. Moaning in annoyance, He raised a hand and lightly swatted hers away. He then turned and slowly sat up, blinked his bleary eyes. He brought one hand up to rub at them. He gave a huge yawn. Bring his hand from his eyes to nub at the back of his neck.

"What time is it?" He asked, still looking straight ahead. His voice was thick with sleep. Kagome felt a small stab of regret. The poor man probably needed his sleep, the hours the science department kept were insane. But he would get a much better sleep in his own bed, in his night cloths. His lab coat could not be very comfortable and her couch was a little too small for him.

Kagome looked over at the clock on her wall and inwardly groaned at the time, "It's 15 minutes to 6."

At the sound of her voice, Reever whipped his head around and stared at her. His eyes going from confused, to shocked, back to confused. He attempted to stand up, but in his rush only ended up falling of his make-shift bed and landing beside Kagome. Kagome raised a single eye brow and graced the befuddled man with an amused smile."Good morning." She said.

Reever looked up at her, perplexed, "What are you doing in my room?"

Kagome raised her other eye brow, "Your room? This is my office. You were sleeping on my couch. I woke you up because it couldn't have been comfortable curled up like that."

Reever looked around then his eyes widened and cleared. "Oh right," He blushed, getting to his feet. "I was delivering a package. The science department was concerned about it as there was no return address. We wanted know if you had been expecting it. I must have fallen asleep waiting for you to return." He raised a hand to scratch at the back of his neck and turned his blushing face to the floor.

"Sorry, I was in the hospital ward watching over Allen. He had an accident involving a third exorcist. He tore his left side up pretty bad. Couldn't help but notice that the other guy wasn't hurt at all." Kagome frowned.

Reever nodded, "I know, there was a meeting called. Some of the Order members are starting to worry that having half akumas here may endanger them."

Kagome couldn't stop in immature, 'duh,' from racing though her head.

Reever lowered his hand from his neck and pointed towards her desk. "Were you expecting anything? If not I need to know what it is in case it is something dangerous."

Kagome also looked over at her desk and the innocence package waiting on top. 'I wasn't, but the crossed arrows and crescent moon is the crest I created or the Tashio family so I know it's from Cross.' Kagome inwardly rolled her eyes. 'And knowing him it's probably something dirty. There's no way I'm opening it with an audience.'

Kagome turned back to the blonde. "Yes, I was. Thank you for bringing it to me. Sorry for your trouble but it's not dangerous."

Reever smiled, "That's good."

There was an awkward pause as each person tried to think of something to say but fatigue was making the mind numb. Reever let out a jaw cracking yawn. "I better go and get some sleep while I still can." He nodded once more to Kagome and flashed her a smile then turned around and with one last parting wave, opened the door and stumbled out into the hall.

Kagome watched him leave. Actually she watched a specific part of him leave. "My, he has a nice ass." Kagome whispered as Reever shut the door behind him. Then she jumped as she realized what she had just said. She smacked herself on the forehead. "I've been talking to Cross way too much lately."

Kagome turned her lightly blushing face back toward the inside of her room. She eyed to warm indent on her couch that Reever had just vacated. "You know... Cross won't even be up at this time anyways. I don't have to tell him what I found right away."

Kagome turned towards where she last saw Timcampy, only to see the little golem curled up on the arm rest.

Kagome snorted. "Well that answered me." She said and walked over to a cupboard where she kept an extra pair of night cloths and a blanket in case of nights or morning such as this.

"Good night then."

~ page break ~

AN.

There, the chapter is finally up. Sorry for the long wait but between finals and writing another story, a YYH x IY called Family Secret, I've been busy. Having writers block didn't help. I really don't like the first part of this chapter. The letter sucked.

I know I promised to reveal what Kagome's innocence was this chapter but it was getting way too long. I did include some major hints, but I will tell you directly next chapter, I promise.

A common question I get in reviews is, "Who are you going to pair Kagome with?" and a lot of those are followed with, "I think Kagome and Kanda make a cute couple *insert reason here*." I thank everyone for their reviews and opinions but I have to disagree. Remember, Kanda is only 18 years old and Kagome is pushing 400. Even physically, she's 23 years old. Kanda is just too young and immature for her. (Yes I feel that Kanda is Very immature). She's better matched with the older characters, like Noise, Komui, or Krory for example. As I have it now, the most likely candidate would be the sexy 26 year old Australian, Reever. He is one of my favourite characters, he plays a comedic persona during most of the anime and manga but when the Order is in danger, like when Lulubell attacked, he shows a very powerful and caring personality. I figure he would be exactly what Kagome needed to make her start building bonds with others again. Plus he's a secondary character with means if there is romance it won't take over the plot.

However this is not a romance story, **if** I do have any romance it will be behind the scenes and any 'fluff' scenes will be written only if they directly contribute to the plot. The last part in this chapter was just a small potential taste to see how I like it and to see how you, the readers, like it as well. But chances are there won't be any.

I also noticed that all of my page breaks have been removed in the previous chapters. I hope it wasn't too confusing reading. I'll have to fix that sometime soon.


	14. Book XIV: Perhaps

Purity,

Disclaimer:

Warning: LANGUAGE

AN. Chapters 1 – 4 were rewritten over the summer.

And thank you for all the reviews. I got so many this chapter, though that could be from having such a long time between updates. Sorry for that, I'll try to update sooner for next time.

Fourteenth Book: Perhaps

The crack of Cloud Nyne's fist hitting the table echoed in the room. The fiery woman's sudden outburst was enough to force even Inspector Rouvelier to take pause. The crowded room fell silent as they all stared at the female general, even Lau Shimin, Cloud's innocence, was uncharacteristically still.

"So you're just going to sit there and do nothing?" She hissed at the arrogant man sitting at the head of the table. Rouvelier didn't even bat an eye. "Just sit there and allow those... those things to stay in headquarters?" She spat, panting by the end of her rant. She had stood up, her chair crashing to the wooden floor adding point to her hissed words. Her fist was still lightly imbedded in the table, cheap church issued crap.

Cloud caught the shocked reactions of the others seated around the table from the corner of her eyes. She was slightly shocked herself. She was normally so cool and collected. But now her whole body was shaking, her chest heaving. Cloud felt a small sting of sorrow when there was no perverted comment coming from Cross's empty chair but she would not, could not, let it be anything more than a fleeting emotion.

"Those things, as you so elegantly put it, are members of the Order and are Third Exorcists." Rouvelier's little henchman spoke calmly. Cloud glared at Link, sitting smudgy beside his master like the trained dog he is.

Cloud banged her fist on the table again. "So are we supposed to just live with them? Those half Akuma are a danger to everyone in the Order. They will be the death of us."

"They are here to aid the first exorcist in-" Link was cut off.

"Aid!" Cloud shouted. She was a half second away from going over to the dense man and shoving her pointed boot up where the sun don't shine. If it wasn't for Tiedoll's firm hand on her upper arm, she would have done it long ago. "You call attacking a fifteen year old boy, Aid? Allen was sent to the hospital ward for his injuries and this hasn't been the first time something like this has happened." She shouted.

Nyne shook off the hand and turned to the other people sitting at the table. Her piercing eyes making a few of them shiver. "What if it happens again and Allen isn't so lucky. What if it's someone else next time?" She swung toward her old friend.

Tiedoll was sitting calmly in his chair. The hand she had shrugged off was lying at her elbow, the other rested softly on the table. He produced a scholarly air around himself, always had, even when he was fighting. It was extremely hard to get this man mad. But Nyne had known this man since she had first been recruited so she could easily see the tell-tale twitch in the corner of his mouth.

She lowered her voice, "What if the next person is Kanda or even Noise and it's more than just a couple of broken ribs?"

She turned away and looked to her left, towards their Supervisor. Komui had his face in his hands, his shoulders already hunched at her upcoming verbal assault. "What if the next time it's Lenalee?" She hissed.

Her eyes left the slumped white clad figure and swept over the others sitting around the table. She ignored those in red jackets, no friends there, not one of them actually cared about another human life. Her eyes traveled over the pale form of Bak Chan, his hands were also clenched in a livid grip. She gazed over towards the other branch heads, the African branch, the South American branch, the new head of the Pacific Branch. All had their lips pierced and eyes down cast. Her eyes skimmed over Cross's empty chair, she refused to truly see it, to look at the expression of the last general.

Winters Zokaro was a harsh man, a cold man. He was cruel, viscous and had a constant need to spill blood. He used to be an executioner before joining with his innocence to become one of the most bloodthirsty. A good person to have fighting at your side, but that was the extent to his hospitality. The man was insane, which was probably why he made such a good General.

And the bastard wasn't even paying attention to the conversation.

Cloud turned back to face Rouvelier. "It will happen again. And unless you do something these, 'accidents,' will continue until someone is killed. Allen, Lenalee, nine year old Timmy, everyone in this Order is in danger." She spat the word, 'accidents', and glared at the man. "I want them gone."

Rouvelier stared down his nose at her. How, when he was sitting and she was standing, Cloud didn't know but the self-righteous reek oozing from him turned her stomach. He folded his pristine white gloved hands in front of him, "Perhaps it is you who should leave." He narrowed his eyes. "The third exorcists are a large asset to the Church. They are able to destroy akuma and fight the Noah just like users of the Innocence."

Rouvelier brought his hands up and tucked them under his chin. He cocked his head a little and gave her a patronizing smirk. He slowly and pointedly looked towards the only empty chair in the room, paused for a long second, before turning back. Nyne stiffened. The room held its breath.

Rouvelier's smirk got a bit wider, though his eyes grew narrower. "They are highly trained... abundant... and most importantly..."

Rouvelier's eyes flicked back towards the empty chair. "Loyal."

"You Bastard!"

'

'

How odd...

'

Lavi turned his head slightly to get a better look at Komui's face. How very odd...

Lavi and Bookman were standing in the far corners of the room. Bookman was standing in the left corner, placing him behind Komui and facing Rouvelier. Lavi was leaning against the wall in the opposite corner giving him a very clear view of Komui's face and therefore, a very clear view of Komui's unexpected reaction.

Lavi ignored the yells and curses that exploded from Rouvelier's rather tactless comment. Ignored the rather humorous struggle Tiedoll and Nyne were in as the elder general tried to hold his female counterpart down to stop the livid woman from killing anyone. Normally Lavi would have loved to help stop her, for her own safety of course, definitely not for the chance of grabbing the gorgeous women. But he wasn't Lavi right now. No, at the moment he was Bookman Jr. So instead of making his way towards the action, he leaned slightly to the left for a better look at the Supervisor's face.

When Rouvelier had said the word, 'loyal,' Komui had gotten a very surprised look on his face. Not that the majority of the room hadn't but Komui's expression had lacked the outraged that fuelled the rest of the people. As if he was surprised for an entirely different reason besides Rouvelier making such a remark. Even now Komui was trying to catch the Inspector's eye instead of tossing angered remarks like the rest of the room was doing. It was as if Komui's surprise came from Rouvelier hinting that he played a part in Cross's death.

Now that was odd... Why would Komui be surprised by such a suggestion?

Rouvelier had ordered Cross killed because of the man's consent references towards a third side... or had something else happen? Something neither Komui nor Rouvelier knew about?

Was there something more to Cross's murder?

Lavi raised his eye towards the small figure of the Bookman in the opposite corner. The elderly male was already looking is his direction. They made eye contact for a second, a silent message, before Bookman slowly nodded.

Lavi exhaled though his nose and lent back heavily against the wall. The new information made his head reel.

If it wasn't Rouvelier, then...

Who killed Marian Cross?

'

'

"Control yourself, or I will see to it that you are striped of your rank." Rouvelier spat at the furious woman pinned to the table by a surprisingly strong Tiedoll. He ended up repeating himself louder as no one was able to hear him over the crazed laughter coming from Zokaro.

"Control yourself!" The yell was finally heard and the shouting and banging that had encased the room died down. Everyone that had jumped to their feet either in rage or in Rouvelier's defence sat back down in their chairs. Leaving Nyne, who was laying face down on the table yelling profanities and struggling to get her hands out from behind her and out of Tiedoll's grasp, at center stage. Tiedoll was using his weight to hold Nyne down. One hand holding hers still, the other trying to keep Lau Shimin from biting his ears off. At Rouvelier's shout and the silence of the rest of the room Nyne finally quieted down and was let off the table.

Making a show of fixing her coat, Nyne gritted her teeth and sat down in her char, with Tiedoll had straightened for her, with a loud bang. She glared hard at the elderly man, who just smiled back, then turned it towards the Inspector. Rouvelier fixed her with his own haughty glance.

He cleared his throat. "If the third exorcists prove to be a danger, we will take action, But." Rouvelier raised his voice to stop Nyne's upcoming protest. "As of now we have no proof."

Nyne made to stand up again but lost her footing when Tiedoll kicked at her leg. It didn't stop her from yelling though. "Proof! Allen wa-" Nyne began but was, again, interrupted.

"Walker went near the third exorcists with an activated Innocence." Rouvelier coolly stated before slowly rising from his wing backed chair. It slid back with an ear piercing scrape. The rest of those in red coats move quickly to follow suit. Link gathered up all of the Rouvelier papers in to a neat pile and handed them to his Inspector. Rouvelier continued, taking the papers without even looking at his second. "That was something he had known not to do. As far as I am concerned he is the one at fault." That said, Rouvelier gave a shallow nod to those in the room and swept out the door Link was holding without another word.

~ OoOo ~

"I might be able to help him."

"...might?" Cross repeated, drumming his fingers on the top of the mahogany desk littered with papers and broken quills. He took in Kagome's form, the wrinkled cloths, messed up hair. She didn't look like she had gotten a lot of sleep last night. Still the weary image only lightly skimmed over his conscious, too absorbed in what she was saying instead of what she was wearing. Something that has almost never happened before. "Just might?"

Kagome's eyes closed tiredly. She had only gotten a few hours of sleep after Reever had left before waking up too late for breakfast and desperately needing to talk to Cross. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

Cross picked up his smoke from the ashtray on the desk but ended up placing it right back down without taking a puff. "Tell me everything." He said. Cross raised his head to looked Kagome straight in the eyes. She slowly opened hers and looked back, searching for something in his gaze. Not sure what she was looking for but refusing to break his stare with his pseudo-mother, Cross held her gaze. Finally the 390 year old women nodded.

"Yesterday Allen and a Third exorcist got into a little tussle." Kagome's right eye ticked at the word, 'tussle.' "Allen was severely injured. He's fine now. We were able to heal him. He should be up by tomorrow. What is important is that I volunteered to watch him during the night... Alone."

Kagome sat deeper into her office chair and rested her elbows on her desk. "It gave me the chance to use my innocence with no one watching and I was able to get a clear reading on the state of his soul."

Cross lent forward in his chair, anxious to hear the rest. He subconsciously reached for his wine glass. Kagome noticed and gave a soft smile. "First off, we were right. An evolved innocence does evolve using a piece of the host's own soul. Allen's missing about an eighth of his. The lost piece won't harm him. He'll never even notice it's missing."

Kagome paused again, to Cross's discomfort. All these stops and stalls were making him nervous.

He placed his glass back on the desk and tipped his head down, hiding his good eye behind a vibrant curtain of red hair. His fingers started to beat a tattoo on the desk again. "What about the fourteenth?" He asked.

Kagome sighed and pieced her lips. She brought a hand up to rub at her eyes. "It's better than I had feared, but..."

"...worse than we had hoped." Cross finished in a low whisper. He stopped drumming and fisted his hand.

Kagome ran a hand through her long hair. She spoke slowly and in a low voice. "The fourteenth has already started to assimilate into Allen's soul. It's already been tainted a great deal." She licked her lips, trying to read Cross's expression. Cross kept his head down.

"Marian..." He tensed at the sound of his first name. Kagome slid her hands along the desk closer to Cross's image. She flexed her fingers wishing she was there to give the man physical comfort.

She spoke in a whisper. "I'm not sure if I can reverse it. I don't even know if I can stop it."

"That's Not Good Enough!" Cross shouted. His head shot up and his fist smashed into the desk. Papers went flying and the wine glass tipped over, spreading dark red wine over the desk's surface and slowly dripping onto the floor. Cross stared at the dripping red. He seemed shocked at his outburst. He was normally so cool and collected.

Kagome never took her eyes off the red image in front of her.

There was a long pause, a tense, heavy silence. Cross just stared unseeingly at his spilt glass and Kagome adamantly watching every little frown and twitch she could see on Cross's face. After a time Kagome's patience and silence paid off. Cross clenched his shaking hands.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean-." Cross sighed. He ran a hand through his hair allowing Kagome to see the vivid scar that ran down the right side of his face. He stopped and shifted in his chair.

"- it shouldn't even matter." Cross whispered through clenched teeth just loud enough for Kagome to hear.

"But it does." Kagome said shortly, piercing her lips. "It does matter that Allen is being slowly corrupted by the influence of the fourteenth Noah. It's always mattered" Cross looked startled by the harsh tone Kagome's voice had taken. His maroon eyes widened behind scarlet hair.

"YOU never wanted it to matter. You never wanted HIM to matter." Cross almost flinched at Kagome's words, instead he clenched his hands tighter and ignored the crescent shaped marks being imbedded into his skin. He refused to make eye contact but maintained his posture.

He wasn't wrong.

Kagome stared hard at the man before sighing, recognizing the stubborn attitude. She tried another approach.

"You never did tell me what happened with the fourteenth Noah." She asked, keeping her voice void of emotion.

Cross glanced at her sideways before unclenching his hands and reached to right his fallen glass, ignoring the puddle still drying on the desk and the way his sleeves dragged through it. Cross poured the red wine into his glass before draining the whole thing in one go, and then he refilled his glass. He almost reached for his cigarette but figured he had stalled long enough.

"There was never supposed to be a fourteenth Noah." Cross stated plainly.

Kagome just nodded her head.

"There was only supposed to be thirteen of those basterds. A twisted reflection of what would later be Jesus and the twelve apostles." Cross grabbed his smoke.

"Or like the devil and the twelve witches." [1] Kagome murmured.

Cross exhaled and closed his eyes. He continued. "That's the reason there has only ever been three Fourteenths. Every other Noah has been reincarnated and corrupting host after host for over 7000 years. But there's only ever been three Fourteenths, the original, Manna's brother and..." Cross paused for a second. "Allen."

Cross opened his eyes and faced Kagome for the first time since her accusation. "The Earl can't make his final move until all the Noah are together. That's why he hasn't destroyed the world yet, that's the only, God damned reason." Cross played with his smoke before sneering in disgust and tossed the thing away. "The Order isn't doing shit. Not really, we're barely a torn in the Earl's fat ass."

Cross paused then gave Kagome a haunted smirked. "I don't know why the fourteenth Noah picked now of all times to return. Why he waited 7000 years to return but when he finally appears in Manna's brother, the Earl screws up." Cross chuckled and his ironic grin grew. Kagome kept her silence. "7000 years the Earl waited and then he goes and makes one huge fucking mistake."

"And the fourteenth betrays the Earl." Cross snaps his fingers, "just like that, the world could survive a little longer."

Kagome watched as Cross drained his glass again and refills it. He pulls out another cigarette from somewhere in his coat and lights it. Taking a huge inhale and slowly exhaling through his nose. Kagome frowns.

"Cross, I already knew everything you just said. Why are you telling me this?" She asks.

Cross looks over to her and puts down his glass. "Just putting things in perspective." He ran a hand through his hair before sighing. Kagome was surprised at how old Cross looked at that moment. The man took great care in maintaining a youthful but classy appearance, but now she could clearly see the worry lines Cross normally kept hidden under his hair and mask. Cross inhaled again and slowly brought the cigarette down from his lips.

"The betrayal gave us time. Gave me time, but it wouldn't last long."

Kagome blinked. "What do you mean?"

Cross shook his head. "The Fourteenth was dying. Slowly, true, but he wouldn't have lasted the year. And as soon as he died the Noah corrupting him would have just picked a new host, a better host, one that wouldn't betray the Noahs and then the Earl would have been free to destroy the world."

Cross turned away from where he was watching the spinning liquid in his glass and looked Kagome hard in the eyes. "It wasn't something we could allow to happen. So we made a plan. I would distract the Earl and the Fourteenth would pick out a new host." Kagome fingers bit into her legs as she clenched them, trying not to say anything and let Cross finish.

"We hoped that if we picked the new host instead of the Noah, the new soul wouldn't match with that of the Noah's. The host wouldn't become completely corrupted and we could control them." Cross placed his glass back on the table. Kagome closed her eyes.

"You picked a child." She whispered.

"I didn't pick." Cross turned away, not being able to bare the look in Kagome's eyes. He clenched his hands into tight fists and looked to the window, staring at the frost covered fields outside. He started softly, "I had no idea who the Fourteenth had chosen to be his successor until I met Allen after Manna had died."

He wasn't wrong.

"You picked a child." Kagome whispered again.

"We had no choice!" Cross yelled.

"The Only One Who Didn't Have A Choice Was ALLEN!" Kagome shouted back, slamming both hands on her desk, making Timcampy shake and the picture to blur for a moment. She had stood up, the crashing of her chair was lost in her sharp words.

Silence.

Kagome slowly removed her hands from her desk and raised them to her chest. She just stood there for a time, arms wrapped around herself trying to calm the inner-mother in her and to try and think rationally. She stared at Cross, taking in his ridged posture and clenched jaw. Closing her eyes in soft pain, she slowly sank down, less of her bending and more of just allowing gravity to do what it will with her and grabbed the back of her chair. She straightened in up and sat down.

Cross watched her without moving. Kagome's voice was still ringing through his head.

He wasn't wrong.

"It could still work, it's already gave us years to prepare. Perhaps the Noah won't be able to corrupt Allen too much..." Cross started again but was interrupted by a soft voice.

"Perhaps... Cross this isn't some school test." Kagome shook her head in sorrow.

He wasn't wrong, what was one life compared to the whole world?

"God, were not even talking about life and death here. But about a corruption on a level we can't even begin to understand. Marian... Allen won't die. He'll cease to be." She looked into Cross's eyes. He stared back.

"If it gives us more time..." Cross trailed before closing his eyes in pain. He shook his head and whispered, "In the end you always have to sacrifice something to protect something else." [2]

Kagome rested her face in her hands. Cross drowned his glass, then three more.

He wasn't wrong... and that's what hurt so much.

"I might be able to help him. I'm not sure if I can, but... I'll try." Kagome raised her head from her hands and looked sadly at her best friend, at her son.

Cross nodded and a look of immense gratitude flashed in his eyes. Kagome gave him a sad smile. He really does care.

They sat in silence for a time. Neither one willing to break the tense calm that surrounded the two of them. Kagome fiddled with the papers on her desk while Cross proceeded to drain the wine bottle dry. It was after the very last drop hit the back of his throat that Cross noticed the small white box sitting on the corner of Kagome's desk.

"You got it." He stated.

"Hummm?" Kagome looked up from the Krory's dental x-rays to see what Cross was pointing at. "Oh, yes it came last night." Kagome put down her papers and reached for the box. The coat of arms flashed in the sunlight as she reached to grab what was inside. "But, why did you send me this?" She asked and pulled out the Shikon no Tama.

Cross smirked. "Well, you need to recharge it." He lent back in his chair and tossed his long hair out of his face, flashing a toothy smile.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Recharge it?"

"Yes, in case some other basterd thinks about killing me. Wouldn't want someone to ruin my beautiful face now." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Kagome sighed and shook her head in amusement. The tension between them completely leaving the room. "No, we wouldn't want that." She placed the jewel back into the box with a roll of her eyes. Cross let out a short laugh.

"Well, I'm all out of wine, got to get me another bottle. You've got quite a selection, Mum." He made a big show of getting off the chair, flexing his arms unnecessary and stretching up tall to show just a little skin where his un-tucked shirt met his pants. Kagome ignored him completely but couldn't keep the small smile off her face.

"See you when I see you." He didn't wait for a reply, just cut off the feed. Kagome looked up and rolled her eyes again. He never let others tell him good-bye, something from his childhood.

Kagome rested her chin on one hand and watched as Timcampy closed his mouth and give himself a little shake. The little golem gave his wings a couple experimental flaps before zooming off her desk and dance around her head. Kagome laughed.

"Alright, I bet you're ready to go see Allen now." Kagome said. Timcampy hovered in front of her for a moment before bobbing up and down. Laughing again, Kagome started to straighten her papers to prepare to leave.

"Give me a second and we can go together. I want to check Allen's injures- Shit!" Kagome shouted. Her head shot up and she stared in Timcampy's direction. "I wanted to ask Cross's opinion on why my powers seem to be failing." Kagome shook her head and banged her fist on the table. "God damn it!"

***knock knock***

Kagome jumped and whipped around to face the door. She stayed still, not saying anything but watched as Timcampy flew to the door and hovered by the handle. Was someone knocking at her door?

***knock***

Kagome shook herself and looked at the clock even as she called to whoever was outside her door. "Come in."

9:37, had she really been talking with Cross for that long? Apparently she had. Kagome frowned trying to remember if she had missed anything important this morning and turned to her door. She blinked in surprised when she recognized the blond head of Reever.

"Hello." He gave her an odd one shoulder, one finger wave and stepped fully into the room. He was wearing lab coat, Kagome didn't think she ever saw him without it and his hair was in its usual style. Though there was something different about him today. He seemed taller, more... alert perhaps? His posture had certainly improved. He must have had a good sleep last night.

"I heard a bang. Is everything alright?" He asked. He gave her flashy grin. It seemed kind of odd on his face, would have been right at home on Cross's though.

Kagome looked towards her desk. "I'm fine. Just dropped something." She turned back with a smile.

Reever nodded and leaned against her door frame. One arm resting above his head, the other on his lower abdomen. One ankle was resting on the other. Kagome took in the strange position and raise an internal eyebrow. Was he... striking a pose?

They stood in uncomfortable silence for a while. Reever with an intense stare that slowly faded into a look of awkwardness and Kagome with a patient smile that hid her growing amusement. Finally Reever cleared his throat and stepped away from the wall. "I, ah... I also wanted to apologize for last night and thank you for waking me."

Kagome's smile grew. "It was no problem. Thank you for delivering my package."

Reever nodded in response and shifted his weight slightly. "Alright then. I'll see you later."

Kagome nodded back. "Bye." She gave a small wave.

Reever paused for a moment, a look of indecision crossing his face before he turned around and started out the door. Kagome watched him leave, her eyes slipping a bit further south then was polite.

He was half way out the door before suddenly stopping. His posture straightened out and he swung back around. "I was thinking. You've been here a few months and you still haven't really seen the city. I have this Friday off if you would like I could show you some of the really good spots." He gave her a grin, this one looking much more natural on his handsome face.

Kagome smiled even wider. "I would like that."

Reever blinked at her response, then blinked again. "Really? I mean, that's great. I'll give you the time during the Thursday meeting."

"Sound great, I'll see you later." She backed up to her desk and leaned on it. Crossing her legs in a manner that made them look way longer then they were.

"Yes." Reever wasn't able to maintain eye contact. "Later." He gave himself a small shake and gave her a nod. He then almost ran from the room. Kagome couldn't stop her small giggle of amusement.

"Cross is such a bad influence on me." She whispered to herself before pushing off her desk and returned to collecting Allen's medical file. Only to be interrupted by Timcampy hovering right in front of her face.

"What? Just because I'm old enough to be his grandmother fifteen times removed doesn't mean anything. Old people have needs to, you know." Kagome batted the gold ball away but the thing just came right back.

Kagome looked at it in annoyance before her face softened. "We both know I can't avoid relationships with people forever, Tim. Whether they are romantic or otherwise. I've tried so hard to not get too attached, maybe now's a good time to start. Besides, the world is going to be destroyed soon anyways."

Tim didn't seem to appreciate her dry humour and batted her with his wing but he left her alone to dance by the door.

"Besides, He's just so cute, not to mention handsome." She looked over at Tim and wiggled her eyebrows." I could really show him a thing o- Oh my god, I'm sounding just like Cross." Kagome literally choked for a second before bring one hand up and smacking herself on the forehead.

"Such a bad influence. God damn it."

~ OoOo ~

AN.

[1] It was believed that to summon the devil you needed 12 witches, hence 12 witches and the devil. Unlucky 13.

The fact that I juxtaposition it with Jesus and his 12 disciples may be in bad taste. But I wanted to compare the Noahs to both good and evil as while they are the villains in the manga there have been indications of ambiguity in their motives. No offence was meant.

[2] Quote directly from the manga, chapter 168 or there abouts

Note: I hope so much that no one thought there was too much OOC in this chapter. I'm worried most about Cross but the conversation was very serious and he was talking to someone he really respected so I hope it was believable.

And conversation was a bit confusing, I know. But everything will be explained later on in the story. Questions such as, Why was there a fourteenth Noah when there was only supposed to be thirteen? Why was the fourteenth not reincarnated like the rest? And what mistake did the Earl make that made the fourteenth betray him? All will be answered by the end.

Oh, I told you what Kagome's innocence is! See, neither offensive nor defensive.

PS. Kagome is 390 not 366. She's been in this world for 366 years, you have to add about 23 years to account for the years she spent in her world.


End file.
